Apocalyptic Daria: Brave New World
by Doggieboy80
Summary: The continuing adventures of Daria, Jane and Martin taking place after the events of Apocalyptic Daria.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: _Daria_ and all of its characters are property of MTV/Viacom. This is fanfiction and no money was exchanged for this story. It is non-profit and written for fun.

**Apocalyptic Daria:**

**Brave New World**

by

Doggieboy80

**Prologue**

"Some people consider this place here a landmark," the commanding voice said.

A camera turned and showed the man. Tall, mostly dark hair with deep blue eyes. He resembled actor Charlton Heston, except for the dark hair. He wore green Army fatigues with two stars on the collars. The name "Simpson" was emblazoned over his right breast pocket.

A female voice said from offscreen, "I don't know where we're at."

"We're crossing Monroeville right now," Simpson said. "The place we're flying over is the Monroeville Mall, where the original _Dawn of the Dead _was filmed in the late 1970s."

"The shockwave came all the way out here?" she asked. "The mall's just a mass of rubble."

After a brief silence, Simpson said, "The shockwave from this particular city could be felt more than fifty miles away, Miss Davis. Where were you on Black Saturday?"

"I...I was on vacation in Puerto Vallarta," the woman said. The camera then turned to her. She had short cut blonde hair and wore a dark blue pantsuit. She seemed ill at ease, but it wasn't certain what made her that way: either the general was intimidating or their present location made her nervous.

The general smiled at her. "I guess that explains your lack of experience on shockwaves."

"Well, where were you on that day?"

"I was enroute from Fort Sam Houston to Fort Knox to visit my daughter and her family," he said. "She's a major, stationed there." After a brief pause, he added, "The shockwave from Cleveland never reached there, and the one from St. Louis was...minor...for us."

The camera showed a scene of burned out rubble that played in silence for the next couple of minutes.

Finally, Simpson pointed out a window and said, "That, directly below us is Mt. Washington. Over to our right is Central Pittsburgh and where Point State Park used to be. Then up that way is Allegheny Observatory."

"All I see is burned out rubble," the woman said as the camera showed the devastation. "The rivers don't even look the same. I can't even see where Brunot and Davis islands _were_."

General Simpson looked at the reporter sadly. "That's what a nuclear bomb can do to a city, Miss Davis. That's what a nuclear bomb can do."

**oooooooooo**

**Part 1.**

Daria Morgendorffer looked out of the pickup truck's passenger window as it drove down the highway. They had left the church and rescue center at Carthage, West Virginia not ten minutes earlier.

"Dime for your thoughts," a male voice beside her said and she looked at the driver.

Martin Peters drove confidently down the winding road, as he had many, many times in the past. He smiled at Daria and she returned his smile.

"Isn't that 'a penny for your thoughts'?" she asked.

"Well," he replied, "I'm accounting for inflation. What's on your mind?"

"I'm nervous," she said.

Helen Morgendorffer stirred from the backseat. "Nervous?" she asked. "Why are you nervous, Daria?"

The teen blushed slightly, then looked back at her mother. "This may sound silly, but I'm kind of afraid to leave Carthage. But, at the same time, I'm happy to get away from there."

"I kinda feel the same way," Martin said, "except that it no longer feels like home to me. I feel...adrift."

Daria thought of her padded bedroom, the Kafka poster, her cheese model and all her books - plus the realization that she'd probably never see any of it ever again. She reached over and laid her left hand on his right thigh. "We're adrift together, Martin. We're adrift together."

"This Uncle Jim of yours," Helen said. "What kind of man is he?"

Martin sighed. "He's an older version of Dad. He looks more like Dad than Grandpa did. He's quiet, thoughtful, a no-nonsense kind of man." He snorted. "I don't know how I'm going to explain Dad's death to him."

Daria squeezed his thigh and said, "We tell him the truth, dear. What did he think of your mother?"

"Hoo-boy. I'm not worried about Uncle Jim on _that_ score. He didn't care for her, but treated her decently. It's Aunt Diana who I'm thinking of here. She and Mom were the worst of friends and the best of enemies. We get her wound up and she'll let us know her opinion of Mom - repeatedly."

"I take it they got into it in the past?" Daria asked.

He nodded. "You could say that. When I was twelve, their daughter Jenny was nineteen. My older cousin. Well, one time at a reunion then, she kissed my forehead and told me that I was so handsome that I'd make a girl real happy one day. Mom called her a slut and ordered her away from me. Aunt Diana...slapped Mom and called her a loudmouthed, ignorant asshole. Then they started a fist fight. I remember that we left right after the fight got broken up."

Helen blinked and shook her head. Then she asked, "How will your aunt and uncle respond to all of us showing up like this? There are nine of us, you know?"

Martin was silent for several seconds. "I've been thinking about that. I'm hoping that he might be able to find us a place to stay - until we decide on where we end up at." He was silent for several more seconds, then added, "When times were normal, they'd have no problem with a crowd our size. Now - I don't know."

Daria looked at him and lightly squeezed his thigh again. He smiled at her in return.

**oooooooooo**

As the caravan rounded a curve in the road, Martin applied the brakes, turned on the turn signal and said, "Well, here we are."

The property he drove onto had a two-story house, a large barn and several outbuildings scattered here and there between them. Chickens could be seen as they ran to and fro through the yard and Daria blinked.

"Please tell me they don't use outhouses here," she said.

Martin laughed. "Relax," he said. "According to Uncle Jim, they had plumbing here in the fifties. Of course, Grandpa didn't have it until 1992."

Daria shuddered. "I _never _want to use one again," she said. "I can't imagine what it'd be like to use on in January."

He sighed and glanced at her. "Cold. Take my word for it." Then he chuckled. "Of course, in the hottest part of August, you not only had to deal with heat and possible snakes, but there were also yellowjackets and wasps, too."

"Oh, joy," Daria muttered.

The front door of the house opened up and a tall, older man stepped out onto the porch. He held a shotgun in his hands. His hair was much like Martin's, slightly wavy and well groomed, but instead of it being dark, it was a mixture of brown and gray. His face had a lined, tanned look from plenty of outdoor work. He wore a red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and worn blue jeans.

A smaller woman followed behind him, a revolver in her right hand. She was around five-foot one or two, much shorter than her husband. Her face was full and her hair was brown and short-cut in a boyish style. Her arms looked strong, She wore a blue button-up shirt and darker blue slacks.

Martin turned off the truck and said, "I'll get out first." He stepped outside, his right hand still on the truck, and said, "Uncle Jim." He held up his left hand in greeting and smiled. "Aunt Diana."

The older man relaxed and raised his right hand. "Martin?" he asked and looked at the other vehicles. "Who's all these people with you, boy?"

The young man swallowed and said, "My girlfriend, her mom and some of our friends."

The older man looked at him, his eyebrows raised and asked, "Where are your folks?"

Before Martin could answer, the older woman asked, her voice disbelieving, "Your _girlfriend_? And _her _mom?"

Martin blushed and nodded. "Yes, ma'am. My girlfriend and her mom." He looked down at the ground. "Dad...and Mom...are dead."

Jim Peters paled and stepped back slightly, only to be steadied by his wife. "What...what happened?" he asked. "Raiders? We've heard that the rural areas had that problem real bad after Black Saturday."

Martin looked up and shook his head. His blush was even thicker. "No, sir," he said. "Mom, she...she shot Dad and left him to die in our house, which she then set on fire. Then she killed one man at the church, shot a woman and tried to kill Daria."

"Daria?" Jim and Diana asked in unison.

Martin turned and motioned for Daria to join him.

Daria and Helen got out of the truck, followed by the others in the car and the SUV. The auburn-haired teen walked up to Martin and stood by his right side.

"This is Daria Morgendorffer, my girlfriend, " he said. "Daria, this is Jim and Diana Peters, my uncle and aunt."

Jim and Diana came up to them. They took turns hugging Martin and the woman looked Daria over briefly before she offered her hand to shake. "I know some people aren't comfortable with hugging," she said. "I can see it in your eyes. Welcome."

"Thank you," Daria said.

Diana then turned to Martin and asked, "What happened to Martha?"

He looked down, sighed and said, "She was shot when she tried to kill Daria. After that, she escaped to the woods and...died out there."

Diana nodded and hugged Martin again. "I'm sorry, Martin," she said.

Introductions were made all around and finally, James looked at the group and put his right hand on the back of his head briefly. "I'd say that all of you need a place to stay and that's why you're here. Am I right?"

"Yes, sir," Martin said, "for a few days at least. I need to go to the high school and sort out what's happening with the last six weeks and my graduation. Then there's Daria and her friend, Jane. They're originally from a red zone, but they still have a year to go until graduation." He took a deep breath. "After that, I don't know yet."

Jim and Diana Peters looked at each other briefly, nodded, and he said, "All of you are welcome to stay as long as you need to. After all, you know that Jenny and Paul moved out years ago, and Penny moved out last August when she started at Olivet Nazarene. It'd be nice to hear the sounds of people in the house again."

**oooooooooo**

"I'm sorry if we're causing you folks too much trouble," Helen said as she helped Diana Peters with fixing dinner.

"Nonsense," the older woman said. "Martin's family and, from what we've seen since you got here, he and Daria are pretty close." She smiled and laughed. "I always thought that he needed a girl to complete him. It looks like all of you have adopted each other."

"Pretty much," Helen said.

Diana looked at the other woman briefly and asked, "How did Martha react to _you_? I know how she felt about _any _female when it came to her son."

"I never met her. She died before I found Daria and her friend Jane."

The smaller woman moved to a large skillet and turned over several pieces of chicken. "You're lucky," she said. "John should have married Mary when he had the chance."

"Who?"

"Martha's sister." She paused and shook her head. "I'm not sure what exactly happened then. Jim ain't too sure, either, cause Timothy, Martin's grandfather, wouldn't tell anyone, and neither would John. What I do know is that John and Mary were a neat couple and Martha...hovered around them like an unwanted puppy. Suddenly Martha ends up pregnant and the word of it was that she...tricked John into bedding her."

Helen looked at her, her expression skeptical. "I find that hard to believe," she said.

Diana gave her a crooked smile. Then she said, "Truth be told, I don't believe it, either. Young men of that age always seemed ready to...tango, so to speak." Then she shrugged. "Oh, well, that's water under the bridge. It's good to have company, even if I don't know you, yet. We had expected to have twelve here at the beginning of June, but it's not going to happen now."

"Oh?"

"Penny might be able to make it from Kankakee, but Paul and his family have to wait it out in Georgia awhile. He's an Army reservist and was activated after Black Saturday. There was some real unrest coming out of the Jacksonville area and he's in the thick of it. Fortunately, the prevailing winds for them that first week were out of the west. Cut down on the contamination in Florida and south Georgia a lot."

"I was in Frederick when the riots started," Helen said. "The Army soldiers at Fort Detrick, the police and civilian volunteers had their hands full awhile. What about your other daughter?"

"Jenny? She's stationed at Andersen Air Force Base...in Guam. The only leaves being granted for military personnel are emergency ones and she told me a few days ago that it could be six or more months before she and her family could make it home for a visit." A look of sadness crossed her face and she sighed. "We're rather fortunate. My family's separated, but I know where they're at and that they're all safe. We didn't lose anyone in our immediate family."

Helen looked down suddenly and Diana realized that she hit a nerve. "I'm sorry, Helen. Did you..."

"My husband, Jake. My...other daughter, Quinn. They died on Black Saturday."

"Oh, my." She touched Helen's right shoulder gently. "Then I go off and say something insensitive. I'm very sorry, Helen."

The lawyer gave her a reassuring, yet weak, smile. "I'll be fine. It just still...hurts, is all."

"I understand."

**oooooooooo**

Martin pulled his uncle aside and said, "I need to ask you something alone."

They stepped outside and just off the front porch and the older man whispered, "What is it?"

"I know you and Aunt Diana have plenty of rooms, but would either of you have a problem with me and Daria...sharing a room?"

The older man sighed and looked at his nephew silently. "I'll be honest with you, son. I know how your Aunt Diana views that kind of thing, and I'd rather you two not sleep together here. However, I was once young myself, and your cousin Paul wasn't exactly bashful about his own actions."

"I remember."

Jim laughed shortly. "The whole family knows about _that_. I can put you and Daria in adjoining rooms. You remember Penny's old room?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Well, there's a door connecting her room with the next bedroom. I'll put you two in those rooms and you can...well, you know, during the night. Just be discreet and be quiet about it. But if your aunt gives me grief, you'll have to switch rooms. Is that O.K. with you?"

Martin nodded. "We had trouble at the church rescue center over this issue. I just wanted to up front about it with you."

"Well, I appreciate your honesty, son. So far, I like your girlfriend and the others with you. Of course, I already knew J.D. Smith's grandson Danny."

"Thanks for having us here. I just...feel like I'm in limbo right now."

"You're family, Martin. As far as I'm concerned, you all have a place to stay. Don't worry about it."

The teen looked at him and nodded. "Well, if any of us do something that bothers you, tell me, O.K.?"

"Fair enough. When do you want to go to the school? I'll go with you to help you out."

"Is tomorrow morning O.K.?" The older man nodded and Martin continued, "We'll go then and, hopefully, get all this straightened out."

**********

At sometime after eleven, Daria laid on a bed and read a book by the light of a small bedside table. She heard the side door in her room open and looked up to see Martin stand there, clad in sweat pants and a T-shirt. "I wondered when you were going to come in here," she said.

"I wanted to give everyone time to fall asleep," he said. "Give us a little more privacy."

She laid the book aside. "This is a _real _bed, Martin. Nice and comfortable and _not_ a sleeping bag. I could have fallen asleep, then you would have been out of luck."

"I would have woken you up," he said.

She smiled. "You would have gotten hurt, too." She sat up and held the blanket up to her neck. "You may be upset with me, but I...I don't want to go all the way tonight." Her smile became weak as she saw the confused look on his face. "I know, we talked about it and all that, but I'm still nervous, Martin."

He pulled a condom package out of a hip pocket, looked at it briefly and returned her weak smile. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous, myself," he said as he put it back in his pocket.

Daria nodded and pulled the quilt off of herself. She laid there, clad only in panties. Her smile was still nervous and her left arm shook, as if she were prepared to cover herself back up quickly.

He blinked, smiled and looked her over as he said, "Whoa."

She patted the mattress beside her. "However, why don't you come over here beside me and...we'll _talk_...and stuff."

"I like..._stuff_."

"Well, hurry up. I'm getting cold here."

Martin moved up to the bed and Daria turned off the bedside lamp.

**oooooooooo**

Her name was Stephanie McPherson, but normally, people called her "Belle" after the character in the Disney cartoon. She didn't feel much like Belle, however, right now. She laid naked in the back of a Dodge minivan on top of a mattress off of a full-sized bed. She sat up and tried once again to move her hands, which the man had tied together behind her back. After several seconds, she gave up and laid back down.

Her left eye was still swollen shut, but the man had taken the time to clean the blood away from her nose. But then, he had combed out her hair and washed her all over -which had been humiliating. But as he bathed her, he kept calling her "Daria". It terrified her, but he didn't really seem crazy, except when he told her of his plans to "rent" her out to men. Or of getting other girls to rent out as well.

She looked at him as he slept beside her, also naked. He stirred and she quickly closed her right eye until he stopped moving.

Stephanie was curious about the bandage on his privates, but wasn't about to ask him about it. She was just thankful that outside of fondling her, he hadn't done anything else - yet.

She then looked out the window at the night sky. _I miss you, Johnny. I wish you were here right now. I hope you...you are still alive...somehow. _Tears ran from her right eye and she closed it to hold in her cries.


	2. Running Buddies

**2. Running Buddies**

The sun had risen, but Jane Lane didn't know what time it was because she was half afraid to look at a clock. Danny was asleep in his room because she could hear him snoring through the door. Trent and Pam and the girls were either still asleep, or at least _he_ still was. Daria, Martin and Helen hadn't come out of their rooms either.

Jane had on a sweat suit and carried her jogging shoes as she walked down the hall.

She walked down the stairs to the living room to find Diana Peters as she set out a dish of cat food. Two cats who had been waiting turned quickly to look at Jane, but then turned their attention back to the food.

"Good morning," the older woman said, a smile on her face. "I wasn't sure when you or any of the others would get up."

"I couldn't go back to sleep," Jane said and yawned. She looked at the cats as they attacked the food and said, "I didn't know you had cats."

"They ran downstairs and hid when all of you arrived yesterday," Diana said. "Until they're sure of you, they'll make sure to stay out of your way." She saw the jogging shoes and asked, "You're a runner?"

"Yeah." She yawned again and stretched.

The woman's face lit up. "Do you mind if I join you? I haven't run since before Black Saturday, due to safety concerns. I used to run alone all the time, but now..."

Jane looked at her. "I like to kick it down sometimes. Is that a problem?"

Diana shrugged. "I've been in marathons, but I have no problem with a sprint now and then." She put up the cat food and added, "Let me get my shoes."

Within five minutes, the two women stepped outside, running shoes and jackets on, and moved towards the road.

"Hey!" Jim yelled out and they turned to see the older man as he stood outside the chicken coop. "Where are you two going?"

"We're going for a run!" Diana yelled back. "We'll be back in a bit and I'll start breakfast."

"Be careful!" he said. "Remember what happened last week."

"Don't worry, Jim. We'll be careful."

As the women started out at a slow pace, Jane asked, "What happened last week?"

Diana's eyes narrowed briefly, then she said, "I was cleaning out the ditch in front of the house and some of Penny's former classmates pulled up. They had been pestering her to go with them to Harper's Point, a local make-out place." She sighed. "Since Penny went off to college, they've turned their pestering to me. It's gotten worse since Black Saturday. When I was at the ditch, one of them exposed himself to me. He was only ten feet away at the time." She shuddered at the memory, then pulled a small revolver out of a shoulder holster and showed it to Jane. "I'm ready in case we need it."

Jane's response was to pull her .357 Magnum out from under her jacket. "I also have a .38 in a shoulder holster," she said. "It comes in handy to diffuse...excited...people."

The older woman looked at Jane's face and noted her casual, almost matter-of-fact expression concerning the weapons. "Have you 'diffused' people before?" she asked, then quickly added, "if I'm not being rude, that is?"

The raven-haired teen shrugged and said, "The church at Carthage was raided several weeks ago. I killed three of the raiders during the battle. That was when Martin took a bullet meant for Daria."

"What? He didn't say anything about being shot!"

Jane shook her head. "So much happened there after that, Mrs. Peters. Especially with what happened with Martha and to the church at Morrisville."

Diana sighed and shook her head. "So, the rumor about Morrisville is true? That they were overrun in a outlaw raid?"

Jane nodded and looked away briefly. "It was horrible."

To the older woman, it was as if Jane had aged thirty years for several seconds. Then she perked back up and asked, "Now, about those punks pestering you. Have you called the police?"

Diana nodded. "Yes, but it's just a case of 'we said, they said' and without proof, they can't and won't do anything. By the time the cops get here, those guys have taken off and have an alibi. But if I had been closer to the road that day..." She shuddered again, put her pistol up and glanced briefly at the younger woman. "That's one of the reasons we like having all of you at our place right now. I've been afraid that they might try something. It was getting so that any sounds at night put me on edge."

"Were they friends of your daughter?" Jane asked as they stretched at the end of the driveway.

Diana snorted. "No, she couldn't stand them. She told me once that they thought they were God's gift to women."

"Sounds like one of my classmates from Lawndale," Jane said. "I've wondered what happened to him after Black Saturday."

"Enough to try and find out?" the older woman asked, a smirk on her face.

"No way!" Jane laughed. "I've got Danny now and he's three times the man that Upchuck is."

"Upchuck?"

"Sorry. His real name is Charles, but he's been called 'Upchuck' for the last few years now."

Diana sighed. "There seems to be men like that everywhere," she said. "There was one guy like that at the church where Martin and his parents went to. You may know him, a man named Odell Jones."

Jane stopped and stared at the older woman in shock. "You know Odell Jones?"

The older woman also stopped. "Yeah, I know him. He went to school with my younger brother. Why?"

"Right before we left Carthage, he tried to kidnap one of the teenaged girls there. Several of us got into a shootout with him and his partner when we rescued her."

Diana gawked at Jane, her mouth wide open. "First Martha goes postal, then Odell Jones turns out to be both a scumbag _and_ a criminal? What happened to him?"

The two women restarted their run and the teen spoke up. "He and Martin were injured in the shootout--"

"Was that when Martin got that bandage on his forehead?"

Jane nodded. "Well, Odell was arrested and his partner was killed. Then he escaped that night and got away."

The older woman shook her head in amazement. "Boy, you think you know some people, then they really go off on a wide tangent."

They continued on their run.

**oooooooooo**

Daria heard a knock on her door and sat up on the side of the bed, now clad in shorts and a long T-shirt. She put on her glasses and asked, "Yes?"

"It's me," Martin said. "Breakfast is ready."

She looked at the clock, saw that it was almost twenty until eight and sighed._ Still too early, _she thought. "Come in."

He opened the door and stepped in as she stood up. They reached each other and kissed briefly. "How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"I missed having you beside me," she said and smiled. "But it was a real nice bed, so I did sleep good." She moved up against his chest and embraced him. "I'm sorry," she then whispered into his shirt.

He returned her embrace. "Why?"

"Well, you know, last night. I know what you...expected."

"I still expect it," he said. Then he sang, "_Anticipation. Anticipa-a-a-a-tion is making me wait_."

"Are you comparing me to ketchup?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

"I couldn't do that," he said and moved his right hand to the top of her shoulders. "I don't know how you taste with French fries."

Daria blushed and playfully smacked his upper left arm. "Martin!" she said, her voice a stage whisper. "What if someone heard you say that?"

"I know," he replied, a grin on his face. "I know. That was the wrong thing to say."

"I didn't say that," she countered.

"I mean, French fries are just so..._gauche_. Chocolate syrup and whipped cream would be so much better."

Her blush deepened and she buried her face in his chest. "If I'm going to die of embarrassment," she said, her voice muffled, "then you are going to die with me."

"I'll be good."

She looked up at his face and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right." Then she ran her right hand over his chest. "I didn't ask you this last night, but how is your chest feeling?"

"Same as it did before we left Carthage," he replied. "Tender."

"Do you want me to check it and change your bandage?"

Martin shook his head. "Not yet," he said. "After we go to school, I'm going to see if Uncle Jim's had his land scanned for radiation yet. If I somehow manage to avoid homework, I'm going to go over it with the Geiger counter. You can change it later on, though."

_Ugh. Work. _"I'll...I'll help you with the scanning."

He smiled at her. "I appreciate it. I want to help them out as much as I can. After all, Uncle Jim and Aunt Diana didn't have to let us stay here."

"I kind of got the impression that they like us being here," she said.

"Really, I did notice that."

Daria broke the embrace and moved to the slipper bench near the bed. He smiled and watched as she removed her shorts and changed into the blue jeans. "How far apart are you aunt and uncle in age?" she asked.

"Uncle Jim is fifty-four, but Aunt Diana is...forty-six...I think. She hasn't confirmed her age for as long as I can remember. But I do know she was twenty-one when Jenny was born and Jenny's about twenty-five right now." She stopped at the makeup table and combed out her hair as he watched. He smiled and sighed as he watched.

"What?"

"I'm a lucky guy," he said.

"How's that?"

"I have someone as beautiful as--"

She turned to him quickly. "O.K., stop now. Don't say anymore."

"I'm sorry?"

Daria blinked, looked down and said, "I appreciate the compliment, but there's a part of me that still considers it so cliché - and fake."

"I've said it before and you never minded."

She smiled at him, walked up and they embraced again. "I know, and I'm sorry. I haven't broken all my bad habits - yet."

He kissed her forehead and she raised her face towards his. They kissed again then and left the bedroom.

**oooooooooo**

They arrived at the breakfast table, the last ones to get seated, and became aware that both Diana and Helen looked at them intently.

"What took you two so long?" Helen asked, her voice neutral.

"We talked, she combed her hair and we discussed the day ahead," Martin said and smiled. "Do you have any chocolate syrup?"

Daria fought the impulse to cringe and instead looked down at the table and at the assorted foods being offered.

"Why do you want _that_?" Diana asked, her voice hard and her eyebrows raised.

"I've got the urge to eat it straight from the bottle...or can, whichever is available."

The older woman looked at her nephew, shook her head and glanced at her husband. "Definitely a Peters. He's addicted to chocolate."

"Of course," Jim said and smiled. "Get seated, you two. Food's getting cold and there's work to be done." He ate a bite of sausage, then added, "Just so everyone knows, call us Jim and Diana. No need to be formal here. That goes for you, too, Martin."

Everyone else nodded and their attention turned to the food on the table. Set out in various plates and bowls on the table was bacon slices, sausage patties, fried potatoes, biscuits, sausage gravy, eggs (fried and scrambled), grits, hot apricots as well as syrup and three different kinds of jellies and jams.

As Daria looked over the food, she muttered, "What do I get?"

"Whatever you want, Daria," Diana said from across the table, a large smile on her face. "Don't worry, we have plenty of food. We canned a lot last year and we also have two very full freezers."

"Didn't you lose power after Black Saturday?" Jane asked as she ate a biscuit covered with apricot preserves.

Jim nodded. "For about seventeen hours, we did," he said. "I used the generator once for an hour to help the freezer, but really, it wasn't in much danger - unless we went without power for more than two days."

Daria looked at her boyfriend and noticed that his plate already had two opened biscuits covered in sausage gravy, another two biscuits made into sandwiches, one full of crumbled bacon and the other with two sausage patties. There was also a pile of fried potatoes and next to that was a pile of scrambled eggs and then some grits in a small saucer with melting butter on top. "Hungry?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said and smiled. "It's probably going to be a full day."

Daria looked closer at his biscuit sandwiches. "What did you put on those? Grape jelly?"

"It's good like that," he said. "Right mixture of sweet and salty."

She looked at Jane, who shrugged then turned her attention to Danny, then at Helen who seemed to be enjoying biscuits and gravy, then at Pam, who looked at Martin in astonishment. But then she turned her attention back to her girls, who seemed to be content with biscuits and butter and bacon by itself.

"I'll have to try that, man," Trent said, and fixed himself a biscuit with bacon and grape jelly.

"You have to actually get the food yourself, Daria," Martin said. "No need to be bashful about it."

"O.K.," she said and got herself a helping of potatoes, several slices of bacon and two biscuit.

There was little conversation during the meal itself, but after everyone had eaten their fill, Jim leaned back in his seat and said, "Danny, I'd like it if you and...um," he looked at Trent, "...I can't remember your name."

"Trent."

"Thank you. I would like it if you and Trent parked your vehicles inside the barn for right now. No sense getting too much attention."

"What kind of attention?" Helen asked.

"Rumor on the radio is that the government's taking cars and trucks to make up for what they lost on Black Saturday." The older man shook his head. "If it's true, then all these vehicles in sight might get some - or all - taken. I'm going to take Martin to school and see if we can sort out the rest of his senior year."

"I'm going, as well," Helen said, then added when Jim looked at her. "Martin asked me to be his guardian and I told him that I'd help. Plus, I need to check up on what we can do for Daria and Jane."

"It's easy to think of you three as adults," Diana said as she stood up. "While Jim and the others are taking care of their tasks, could I get some help cleaning the table, please?"

**oooooooooo**

The three took the Peters family Mercury Topaz. Jim drove, with Martin beside him and Helen sat in the back.

Martin looked at his uncle and asked, "Has your land been scanned, Uncle Jim?"

"You don't have to call me 'Uncle', son," he said. "Just call me Jim."

"Old habit," the youth shrugged.

"Oh, well," Jim said and thought briefly. "To answer your question, no. I'm at a loss as to what to do. I've got several acres of corn and that small patch of wheat, plus our garden and we have no idea if any of it's still good or just...hot. That doesn't even include what's up with the chickens and the pigs. Why? You have an idea? The county hasn't been much help on that score."

"We have a Geiger counter," Martin said. "My idea is that after we get back, if I don't have much homework, Daria and I will scan your land."

Jim whistled and looked at his nephew. "That will take awhile."

"I know," the youth said. "It has to be done."

"Keep quiet about having that," Jim suggested. "It could get confiscated by the local government."

"It belongs to Daria and Jane," Martin protested. "It's not theirs to take!"

"Actually, they can take whatever they want," Helen spoke up from the backseat.

The two males looked back at her as she gave Martin a grim smile.

"I know one of General Simpson's aides and he let me know that the government has the authority, until some semblance of normalcy returns, to take whatever it needs to do its job. That means vehicles, homes, weapons, food, or _anything _an officer or government official decided it needed." She blinked and shook her head. "Some areas have had gun confiscations, according to my...friend. General Simpson, however, doesn't believe in it, so the First Military Section is safe from that...for now."

"A lot of gun owners live in this part of the country," Jim said. "I don't want to imagine a fight over that. Not against the Army."

He then slowed the car down and turned down a road labeled "Trojan Way" towards a school.

"Your school is called 'The Trojans'?" Helen asked.

Martin nodded. "You really don't want to hear all the jokes about _that_," he said.

"I already did," Jim said. "Paul's told them all, dozens of times."

He parked the car in a visitor's space near the front of the school building.

**oooooooooo**

The three returned to the farm nearly an hour and a half later. Helen went to Daria and Jane, who were busy at vacuuming the upstairs rooms, and said, "O.K., girls, I have some news for you two."

The sudden silence of the cleaners being turned off felt odd, but that quickly passed as the older woman said, "You two have a test to take on Monday to get credit for finishing eleventh grade." She held up two books. "Apparently a lot of students haven't been in school since before Black Saturday. The teachers made up books for each class, with additional stuff for the honors students."

"I take it that Martin has a lot to study, then?" Daria asked.

Helen smiled. "Yes, and so do you two."

Jane frowned and then made a sour face. "Why do I even have to do this?" she asked. "What does it even matter anymore?"

Helen looked at her. "Life does go on, Jane, even after a nuclear war. Things go back to normal, even if it's a new normal."

"Don't worry," Daria said. "I'll help you study."

Jane still had a sour look on her face, but said, "Thanks, _amiga_."

**oooooooooo**

Later, after supper, Martin laid on his bed as Daria removed the bandage from his chest and looked over the slice.

"Looks like it's healing," she said.

Jim and Diana moved close, looked at the injury, then at each other in shock.

Then Jim asked, "Why didn't you tell us about being shot, Martin? Jane told Diana about it this morning. Not only that, but what happened to your left thumbnail? I noticed at supper that it's missing."

Martin blinked and looked up at both Jim and Diana. "So much has happened, especially to me," he said. "I don't know where to start." He winced as his girlfriend cleaned the cut with rubbing alcohol. "Owwww! That hurts!"

"Only because you're a weenie," Daria said.

Diana smiled at her husband. "That's a Peters family trait, I've noticed."

"Oh, hush," Jim said as his wife winked at him. He smiled as he said it, though.

**oooooooooo**

It was half past eleven when the side door to Martin's room opened and Daria walked in. He sat at the small desk in the corner, which was covered with at least four open books, in addition to the guide that Helen picked up at the school.

"So, they let you in your locker, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "On the Friday before, I had no homework, so I left everything there." He closed his eyes and sighed. "I have five tests to take, and this is going to drive me nuts."

She moved up behind him, wrapped her arms around his chest and kissed his right ear. "Time to stop for the day," she whispered. "Step away from the desk and come to bed."

He blinked and smiled. When he turned, she quickly kissed him and added, "I want to see how your bed compares to mine, comfort wise. Just in case you have to switch rooms with me, you know."

Martin chuckled as he stood up and turned off the overhead light. Then he reached to Daria and led her towards the bed in the darkness.

(To be continued...)


	3. The Call Home

**3. The Call Home**

Within a few days, everyone settled into a routine. Martin scanned a little bit of the land with Daria's help, then worked on his homework later in the day. The two _amigas_ cleaned a little bit, then helped Pam with her two girls, in addition to their homework. Trent and Danny helped at clearing away brush and rocks from areas that Martin had already scanned. Helen helped Diana with some of the workday chores, but also checked up on any legal work she could do for Martin's aunt and uncle.

(It should be noted, however, that Martin and Daria took care of _extracurricular_ work after everyone went to bed, but then again, so did Jane and Danny Smith, as well as Trent and Pam Garrett.)

Pam had one habit that she had started right after she and Trent (plus her girls) had arrived at Carthage. She had tried her once a day phone call to her parents, who lived near Huntington in the extreme western part of the state.

Despite the fact that Colonel Kyle Armalin had told the church elders at Carthage that telephone service had been quickly restored in West Virginia, there were still local outages. Each time Pam called her parents in the weeks after Black Saturday, she got a simple message: "These circuits are not in service at this time."

It was almost six a.m. on the third day when she sat up in bed, patted Trent's sleeping form and reached for her cellular telephone. By habit, she keyed in the automatic dialing feature for her parents' home number and waited for the automated voice to come on. They were always up at five, and sometimes even four. When she got a ringing on the other end, she froze and felt a chill sweep through her. "Oh, please," she muttered, "oh, please, oh, please, answer the phone, Mom. Please."

Then the sound of a telephone being picked up could be heard and she heard a woman's voice as it said, "Hello?"

Pam nearly screamed, but instead asked, "Mom? Is that you?"

"Oh, my God!" the woman on the other end said. "Pam? Pam, honey, is that you?"

"Yes, Mom, it is!"

"Chester!" the woman yelled to someone off the phone. "Get over here! Pam's on the phone!" Then she said to Pam, "Honey, where are you?"

"I'm on the northeastern side of the state, near the Maryland border."

Then a man's voice could be heard, "Baby girl, I have been worried sick about you since the world fell apart. Are you and the girls O.K.?"

"Yes, Daddy, we're fine."

"Are you at a rescue center?" he asked.

"No, I'm at a friend's house right now. I've been trying to call you guys nearly every day since Black Saturday."

"I wondered about that," he said. "Right after the bombings, someone cut the phone lines."

"What? Who would do that?"

A chuckle could be heard and the man said, "I think it was old man Gibson. He's been going on about liberals and Russians taking his guns and using the phone lines to spy on him."

She shook her head and said, "I forgot about that idiot."

"Well, he tried to make it harder for them to find him - I believe. They were finally fixed this week." There was a pause and he then asked, "Are you sure you three are O.K.? I've heard rumors of bad things happening in the red and yellow zones and I've been worried shitless about you three."

"Chester!" Pam's mother said from offline. "Language!"

"We had some trouble," the young woman admitted. "Someone helped us."

There was another pause and the man asked, "Are you still with this someone?"

Pam smiled. "How did you know?"

"The way you said, 'someone'. How does he treat the girls?"

"Trent reads and sings to them. He's a really neat guy."

"Trent, huh? Well, are you three--four, going to come home sometime soon?"

A tear streamed from Pam's left eye and she smiled, "I want to, but I'm afraid of what the roads are like."

"The interstates should be no trouble," her dad said. "Avoid county or state roads you don't know, but that's always been the rule of thumb. According to the news, your worst trouble will come from the yellow zones - which I think you may be in."

Pam nodded, then said, "We are."

"Baby girl, here's my suggestion. You should be fairly close to I-81."

"We are."

"Good. Make sure you have as much gas as you can in your vehicle. A lot of gas stations are closed right now, especially east of Beckley. Take I-81 into Virginia until you can reach I-64. Then stay on I-64 until you reach the home area."

"What about the Turnpike? Do we still have to pay tolls?"

There was a pause on the other end and her father said, "Truth to tell, baby girl, I don't know. Usually when I go past Charleston, I head north. When will you come home?"

For a few seconds, Pam was silent. She looked at Trent's sleeping form and said, "I'll have to talk to Trent. After all, we're with his sister, and I don't know how he'll feel about leaving her. I'm going to shoot for leaving tomorrow or the day after."

"I see. Well, we've taken care of your place and your cats, and kept things clean. Kimmy and Laurie have stayed there every so often, also."

Pam sighed. "Thank you. I've wondered if I still had a home."

"Of course, you do," he said. "We're waiting for you. When you all arrive, we'll have ourselves a party. Make sure you call us before you leave, so we can get things ready."

"Daddy, I love you and Mom."

"We love you, too, honey. Give the girls hugs and kisses from us. Tell Trent I'm looking forward to meeting him. Bye."

"Bye." Pam closed the connection and laid back against Trent. She sniffled as she suppressed her cries of happiness.

**oooooooooo**

Martin Peters sat up in bed, threw the covers off himself and yawned. He looked at the clock, saw that the time was fifteen after six a.m. and stretched.

The bedroom door started to open and he quickly pulled the covers over his midsection. Then he waited.

Diana Peters peeked around the door and gasped when she saw her nephew look at her. "I'm sorry, Martin...I was checking..."

A small smile appeared on his face and he said, "You were making sure I was alone in bed."

To her credit, she nodded and said, "Yes, I was. I've watched how you and Daria act with one another, and I have a keen memory of the way Paul was. I'm not going to spy on you two or anything like that, but please don't sleep together here."

"We won't," he said. "I already talked to Uncle Jim about that."

She smiled. "I know. Sorry about walking in on you like this. I'll leave you alone to get dressed." She shut the door.

He stood up and dressed for the day.

**oooooooooo**

When Martin walked into the kitchen, there were already four people up. Jane and Diana put on their running shoes. Jim drank a glass of water and Helen worked on a pot of coffee.

Morning greetings were passed around and Jane gave Martin a smirk. "Daria's not up yet?" she asked as her smile widened.

He returned her smile, but stared hard at her. Both Helen and Diana stared at his face to watch his reaction. "As far as I know, she isn't. I didn't hear any noises when I walked by her room."

Jane laughed then. "That's because we didn't have beans last night!" she said. "If we had, then you'd be hearing a regular symphony."

"Jane, you're horrible," Helen said, but smiled as she did.

Diana looked and Jim and rolled her eyes. "Like listening to Paul and Jenny when they started acting up," she said.

"It does sound nice to hear again, doesn't it?" he asked, a smile on his face.

"You know it does," she said and looked at Helen. "You don't mind putting on the cinnamon rolls, do you?"

"Not at all," Helen said and smiled. "I like to be useful and helping you cook is my pleasure."

"I appreciate it," Diana said and looked at Jane. "Since I have a fellow runner here now, I can run again. I've missed it."

"You two armed?" Jim asked. "Just because things have calmed down since Black Saturday doesn't mean it's totally safe outdoors - yet."

Both women showed their firearms and the older man blinked at the sight of Jane's Magnum. They laughed at his reaction and left for their run.

Jim turned to Martin, who also drank a glass of water. "What are your plans for today?"

"Today, I'm going to scan the chicken coop, the pig pen and then finish up the front yard. Then later, I'll study for my tests some more."

"I thought Daria was going to help you," Helen said.

"Let her sleep for now," the teen said and stretched. "It gives me a little time to think as I work." He stepped out the kitchen door to the outside.

Helen turned to Jim and asked, "Has crime been a real problem around here?"

"Not really," he said. "We're close enough to town and things got pretty calm here a few days after Black Saturday passed. Our worst problem has been with some young punks harassing Diana."

"Oh, my," she said.

"They used to bother Penny when she was home. But since she's in college, they turned their attention to Diana." He sighed. "They're afraid of me, but since Black Saturday, they've gotten bolder. Elsewhere, from what we heard, the raider gangs went after small villages and individual homes in the rural areas. CNN says that most of them have been killed off by now."

"Most?" she asked.

He gave her a rueful smile. "You can never kill off all the criminals," he said. "Some will smarten up and put on a fake front or hide out awhile. But they'll always be punks - and their true colors will eventually show."

Helen nodded and thought for a second. Then she said, "I was going to ask you and Diana if any shops in town were open."

Jim nodded. "Sure are. Both grocery stores are open, as are the drug stores and convenience stores. There's only a couple of restaurants open, though. Not that they have much to offer anymore. But one thing's important. We need to get you all registered for rations."

"Rations?"

He nodded. "Some things are being rationed. Meat, for instance, and milk products. Sugar isn't being rationed yet, but there's talk of it happening sometime soon. One thing you have to realize though, is that not only are some things gone from the shelves, but prices are up on other things, too." He shrugged. "We have a lot of food in the freezer, so the meat rationing doesn't hurt us - yet. I stocked up on coffee because of a sale two weeks before Black Saturday, so we still have several unopened cans." He smiled. "We can talk about it more at breakfast. I need to feed the animals."

He stepped outside the door Martin used and Helen turned her attention back to the cinnamon rolls.

**oooooooooo**

Jane and Diana ran side by side down the highway, but were silent for the first several minutes.

Then as they rounded a curve, they saw a blue Ford Thunderbird approaching from the opposite direction. "Oh, hell!" Diana muttered.

"What?" Jane asked. "What is it?"

"Those punks!"

As the car reached the two women, it slowed down and the driver's window came down. "Mrs. Peters, we were hoping to see you run alone," the boy at the wheel said.

"Yeah!" a second boy said. "We were wanting to give you a _ride _to Harper's Point."

"I thought we were going to take her to Harper's Point and then give her a ride," a third boy said. All of them laughed at that joke, while Diana and Jane frowned at them.

"Boys, I don't have time for your nonsense," Diana said.

"Who's your friend? You think she'll want to go to Harper's Point, too?"

"Why don't you go there and wait for us?" Jane suggested; she held the .38 in her right hand, and kept it in her jacket pocket.

"How long will that be?" the driver asked.

The raven-haired girl smirked at him and said, "When hell freezes over, you'll know we're on our way."

The car backed up and was then put into park. One of the boys stepped out and pulled his pants down to his knees.

"Dammit!" Diana muttered and glanced away from him. "Not again!"

"Come to papa, ladies!" he said and pointed to his naked crotch. "He's ready for you!"

Jane looked at him and sighed. Then she pulled out her pistol, cocked it and said, "Oh, boy! Target practice!"

The boy quickly pulled up his pants and jumped back into the car. Then the car sped off.

Jane looked at her fellow runner and saw that the older woman shook slightly. "Are you O.K.?"

Diana nodded. "I just thought about what could have happened if I had been alone here."

**oooooooooo**

Daria didn't look at the clock as she got up. With her left hand over her eyes, she moved around until she felt awake enough to expose her eyes. "Ughh!" she said and got dressed.

Still in her stocking feet, she went downstairs and plodded out onto the front porch. She saw Martin wave at her from the front yard. He was already wide awake and scanning the lawn. Diana was beside him, wearing running clothes. She held a can of spray paint in her left hand.

"Get yourself a cup of coffee, Daria!" the older woman yelled. "I'll help Martin until you're awake enough to take my place."

Daria walked back inside, and found Helen as she pulled a tray of hot cinnamon rolls out of the oven. "What are you doing, Mom?" she asked.

"Oh, good morning, sweetie," Helen said. "Diana asked me to start things out for her while she and Jane went on their run. Need some coffee?"

"I guess so. Martin's an early bird." She served herself coffee and her mother smiled as she spoke. "He's really eager to help out his aunt and uncle."

"They're good people."

Just then, Jane came in, still in her running clothes and stretched. "Ahh! Coffee!" She took the cup Daria had just prepared and drank part of it. "Thanks, _amiga_. That hit the spot."

"I'm about to hit the spot, Lane," Daria growled. "That was my coffee."

"Thank you." Jane smirked.

Helen handed a second cup full to Daria. "Here you go, sweetie."

Daria drank some coffee. "Thanks, Mom."

**oooooooooo**

During breakfast, when everyone else started eating, Trent and Pam looked at each other and smiled. He nodded and she cleared her throat and said, "Trent and I have some news for everyone."

"Oh?" Jane asked and slugged her older brother's right arm. "Congratulations, 'Daddy'."

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"No, I'm not pregnant!" Pam said quickly, her hands up. "I was finally able to get through to my parents."

"That's great news!" Martin said.

"Were they worried?" Daria asked her.

"Very much so," Pam said. "They've heard a lot of bad stories about things in the red and yellow zones."

"Where is your family from?" Jim asked.

"Just outside of Huntington on the other side of the state," she said.

"How did you end up here?"

"Vacation. Amber starts kindergarten next fall and I wanted us to have a last spring vacation before the schooling starts up."

The older man shook his head lightly and sipped some coffee. "They never lost phone service in that part of the state," he said. "You should have been able to reach them before today."

Pam smiled and sighed. "One of our local crackpots cut the phone lines in our area right after Black Saturday and they didn't get them repaired until this week. If it's who I think it was, he thought that liberals and Russians were after him."

Laughter interrupted her then, but Jim still shook his head and looked at Martin. "Sounds like something your Uncle Wayne would do - except he'd rail on about 'all them damn Republicans.'"

"Have you heard from him?" Martin asked. "We were so concerned about our own corner of the world, we never tried calling anyone."

"I talked to him last week," Jim said. "He blamed Reagan for everything that happened. Blamed Nixon, too, because he normalized relations with the Chinese." He turned to Trent and Pam. "Are you four going to head back home soon?"

"Yeah," Pam said. "Hopefully tomorrow or the day after."

"O.K." he said. "The four of us guys will tune up your SUV and change the oil. Get you as ready as we can."

Jane looked at Trent and then looked down at the floor.

"Hey," Trent said to her.

"What?" she asked and still looked down.

He lifted her chin and said, "You knew this was going to happen eventually."

"Yeah, I just didn't think it would be so soon."

"You guys can come visit us," he said.

Jane's response was to lay her head on his upper right arm briefly, then sit back up in her seat and smile at him. "Are you going to make Pam an honest woman?" she asked in a very low voice.

He smiled back at her. "We'll see about that."

**oooooooooo**

The day, as well as its chores and rituals, passed on and night fell. Most of the others sat inside and listened to a concert being played from Chicago on the radio, while Daria and Martin sat on the front porch swing. She leaned up against his right side, her head against his shoulder.

They said nothing at first, but when he moved his right hand to the neckline of her shirt and down inside it, she said in quietly, "Martin! If someone looks outside, they'll see what you're doing."

He chuckled. "Well, if I slid my hand down the back of your pants, then they'd really see something then."

She shivered from his touch and looked up at him. "O.K.," she said. "Just be ready to pull your hand back at a moment's notice."

They sat that way for several minutes, then she moved her head up and they kissed.

When Daria broke the kiss, she turned her head and saw the something white just outside of Jim and Diana's bedroom window. "Martin," she said. "There's something over there by that window."

He looked and pulled his hand out of her shirt. Then they stood up and he picked it up. "Looks like a letter, but it's open. It has Aunt Diana's name on it."

He glanced inside and added, "Just a picture inside." Then he pulled it out, looked at it in the dim light and suddenly he blushed quickly.

She was surprised first by his reaction, then by the way he suddenly gave her the photo.

"We need to get this to Jim and Diana," he said. "I don't want to see it again."

Daria looked at the photo and gasped. The quality was poor; a nude Diana Peters had been photographed through a window and her image was blurry, but it was definitely her.

She turned over the photo and saw a small attached note.

_Diana, we're watching you - and we're going to get you._

(To be continued...)


	4. Preparation for War

**4. Preparation for War**

"YOU WHAT?"

The boy who spoke was named Jay Collins and he was angry. He was clean-cut and dressed in green utility clothes, though he actually didn't work in them. They were something that his dad had that he took. The same was true for his brother Ray, who sat on a well broken-in couch and ate a piece of pizza.

His anger was directed at a heavyset boy of nineteen or twenty who sat on a old vinyl recliner, a bottle of beer in his hand. The boy looked up at him, his expression a mixture of boredom and amusement. He said, "I left Diana a picture of herself and told her we were going to get her."

"Wally, is your head up your ass for the warmth?" Jay asked. "Why the hell did you do that for? What were you thinking?"

"What's with you, Jay? Don't you want to lay her?"

The twin covered his face with his left hand and said, "She didn't know that we could look in on her. By giving her that photo, we'll never get that chance again."

Wally smirked at him. "I don't want to look through a window at her anymore," he said and jerked his right thumb towards a bed in a back room. "I want to look at that bed and see her tied to it - or to one of the trees outside - or staked out somewhere in the woods."

The fourth boy, who also looked to be either nineteen or twenty, scratched the back of his shaved head and said, "I'd like to tie her naked ass down to the hood of the T-bird and drive her around." Then he frowned. "But that smart-ass girl with the black hair - I'd tie her to the back bumper and see how well she could keep up with us as we drove around. I'd show her what 'target practice' is."

That comment relaxed the mood in the room and Jay said, "Well, Simon, you showed her what you have and she wasn't impressed." Then he turned to Wally and said, "You obviously have something in mind, so spill it. What have you planned?"

Wally sat forward and said, "I've watched Diana more than the rest of you have. Every morning, she goes to the garden and gets some onions or whatever else she needs for the meals. You know that old man Peters put his garden in an L-shape, with part of it hidden by that new shed he had put in year before last. That hidden part is where the onions are planted. My plan is this. We sneak up on the place along about nine or ten tomorrow morning --"

"That's my bedtime!" Ray spoke up from the couch, and took a bite of pizza.

"We sneak up on the place along about nine or ten tomorrow morning," Wally repeated. "When Diana goes out to the garden, we come up behind her and take her."

Jay looked at him silently and said, "Nice idea, but what if she screams? They apparently have some guests, but I don't know who they are. They're bound to come running when she screams."

Wally got up from the recliner and walked briefly in one of the bedrooms. He came back with a Taser and briefly activated it, which revealed a bright blue spark. "I borrowed this from my brother the last time I visited there."

"You stole it, you mean," Ray said. "Your brother wouldn't give you the time of day, much less anything of value." The other two boys laughed at that comment.

"This ain't the civilian model, boys," Wally added and ignored the laughter. "This is the police version - more powerful and has a bigger wallop to it. We hit Diana with this and she'll drop like a ton of bricks. Then we just carry her ass away from there and take her...wherever we want."

Jay nodded and said, "I like it. But you know that once we do that we'll have to run, don't you? Your brother ain't gonna cover you for a kidnapping. That's more serious than knocking up a 14-year-old girl."

Wally smiled and said, "I'm tired of this place, boys. Law and order's still kind of off around here, thanks to Black Saturday. Here's another idea I had. We take Diana with us and we split this place - hell, this whole state. I've had it with West Virginia, and this is the best time we'll ever have to take her for good."

"Where do you want to go?" Simon asked. "I can't think of anywhere else to go than where we are now."

"Kankakee, Illinois."

The other three boys blinked and Jay asked, "What the hell's in Kankakee, Illinois that isn't here?"

"Penny Peters," Wally said. "I still want her, Jay. I've wanted her ever since she slapped me in eighth grade in front of the math class. We'll have her mother, then we'll have her."

The other three boys smiled and nodded.

**oooooooooo**

James Peters sat in his recliner and looked at the photograph in silence. His wife, Diana, sat across the room, her face in her hands. Daria and Martin stood near the front door; she was shocked, but waiting, while he simply kept his eyes closed and shook his head. The other young people sat around silent, unsure of what to say. Helen sat next to Diana, her right hand on the other woman's left shoulder in an effort to comfort the embarrassed woman.

"Well," Jim finally said, "I don't think they're afraid of me anymore."

Helen stood up and moved next to him. She looked at the photograph and then at Diana. "Do you know when this picture could have been taken?"

Diana looked up and blinked. Her eyes had tears around them and her face was beet red in color. She thought briefly, took a deep breath and said, "Based on the bedspread it shows, it had to be at least two weeks ago, or longer. I changed that particular bedspread two weeks ago."

"Uncle Jim," Martin spoke up and opened his eyes. "Do we go to the cops and file another report?"

"No," he said. "They could claim that you, or Trent, or Danny, or even one of the girls here could have taken this." When Martin started to protest, the older man raised his hand. "I know, son, but it wouldn't be above them to suggest that _any_ of you did this."

"So what do we do?" Daria asked.

"We go after them," Jane spoke up, her voice calm and straightforward. "We go to their hidey-hole, we 'hit' them and we 'hit' them hard."

Everyone except Daria and Danny looked shocked at her words. He put his right arm around her and squeezed her shoulders. She gave him a quick smile and waited for someone to say something.

Finally, Diana asked, "I'm mad enough to kill them right now, but honestly, isn't that a bit harsh?"

The raven-haired teen looked at her running buddy and shook her head. "If we don't do this and do it soon, they'll come back. What did that note say? _We're going to get you. _I don't think we should run again until we take care of them, Diana. We caught them by surprise by being armed this morning. Next time, they may just shoot one or both of us - or come at us with more guns."

"I was thinking," Danny said, "isn't this kind of a stupid move for them to make? I mean, considering how many of us there are here."

"They may not know exactly how many of you are here with us," Jim said. "Plus, they're also arrogant. They may not care."

"Do you know who they are?" Martin asked. "Exactly?"

Jim looked at him and said, "The Collins brothers, Jay and Ray..."

"Creative naming," Daria muttered to her boyfriend, who smiled in response.

"...Wally Trimble and Simon Franklin. Do you know them?"

Martin shook his head. "They were a couple years ahead of me in school. But isn't one of the county deputies named Trimble?"

Jim gave him a wry smile and nodded. "That's right. John Trimble. He's Wally's older brother, but they don't get along from what I hear."

"Why's that?"

Diana looked up and said, "He tried to seduce John's 14-year-old foster daughter, although some of the rumors say that he did more than that."

"We still need to go after them," Jane insisted. "If we don't, one of us, possibly you, Diana, will end up at their mercy."

"Whatever you decide to do, we'll help!" Pam said quickly, then looked at Trent. "Right, honey?"

"Sure thing," the young man said and nodded.

"What do you want to do, Jim?" Daria asked. "What do you want _us_ to do?"

The middle-aged man glanced at Martin's girlfriend and said, "You're ready to go after them, huh?"

"Yes, sir," she replied. "I've found that when Jane finally has a thought..." Jane stuck her tongue out at Daria, who smiled. "...it's serious business."

For more than a few minutes, he thought, but finally said, "We'll go after them. We'll go tomorrow around nine a.m."

"Why then?" Helen asked.

"They're night owls," Diana said. "They party - or play around - all night and are usually in bed by nine a.m. They all live together, and their place is secluded."

"Rather convenient," Jane said.

"Actually, they want it that way," Jim said. "That way when they get a girl there, nobody can see or hear what they're doing to her. If someone drives near their place, they can hear and see them long before they arrive."

"Who do you want to take with you?" Danny asked.

"You and Martin," he said. "I know that both of you are used to moving around in these woods. Trent, I'm going to ask you to stay with Pam and the ladies to guard the house while we take care of this."

"Sure, man, I'll do my part," Trent said and nodded.

"I'm going with you," Jane spoke up quickly.

"No," Jim said and shook his head. "It might be dangerous."

"I'm going with you," Jane repeated. "I have to."

He started to protest, but Diana spoke up. "She has experience at this, Jim."

"O.K.," he finally said. "You go, but no grandstanding or heroics."

Daria turned to Martin and looked up at his face. "Remember what you promised me and Mom, boy."

"What?" he said.

"Don't take any risks." She embraced him and kissed his chest. "I don't want to lose you."

He kissed the top of her head and when she looked up at him, he kissed her lips. "You'll still have me around," he said. "I promise."

**oooooooooo**

The fact that Jim Peters even had an office surprised Jane as she, Martin and Danny followed the older man into the darkened room.

She looked around and nodded at the large, antique globe in one corner and the large oak desk. _Pretty neat, _she thought. _Wonder why he never showed us this before? Well, he seems pretty private as it is._

Jim took a rolled up map from one closet, took off the rubber band holding it and rolled it out on his desk. "This is U.S. Geological Survey map of this general area," he said as they bent over and looked at it.

"Where did you get the map?" Martin asked.

"State office building in Charleston - five years ago," Jim said. "It was when Paul enlisted in the Army and we dropped him off there so he could go to boot camp."

He touched one spot. "Our house is right here." Then he traced a straight line to another spot on the map. "This is where we're going in the morning. We won't go a straight route, however. As you two boys know, we'll be zig-zagging around the different cliffs and hills."

"Martin took me and Daria hunting once," Jane said quickly. "That was when we were at Carthage. I know about that, too."

The older man smiled at her. "Forgive me, Jane, but I picture you two as flatlanders. A bad assumption, I know, but it's a habit."

"It's O.K."

Jim turned back to the map and said, "We'll leave after eight from the back yard and head towards Brinkman's Cliff--"

"Let me guess," Jane said. "Someone named Brinkman owns the land."

"No," Danny said. "Someone named Brinkman fell off the cliff - twice - according to my dad."

"What?" she asked.

"It's true," Jim said. "The first time it was because he had too much...'mountain dew', so to speak, and the second time, it was because his friends dared him to try and walk on the edge sober. Martin's granddaddy was one of those friends."

Martin smiled. "Dad told me that one, and Grandpa told me once that Brinkman was a few cards shy a deck."

"I was just a little kid when it happened," Jim said. "Daddy whipped Timothy - Martin's grandpa - something fierce over that one."

Jane looked at the three men as if they were space aliens. "What...what happened to this Brinkman fellow?"

"Oh, he survived _that_," Jim said. "Died of natural causes a few years ago, though."

Their attention turned back to the map and Jim outlined the route that they would be traveling.

As the older man spoke, Jane imagined him in Army combat fatigues and a World War II-style metal helmet on his head, looking like an older version of Tom Hanks.

Martin she pictured as a combat-weary war veteran, older than his years. Danny, however, she pictured as a swimsuit model in the skimpiest of swimming briefs. That image caused her to shift her thoughts from _Saving Private Ryan _to _Savoring Ryan's--_

"Jane!" Jim said loudly. "Are you paying attention?"

"Sorry," she said quickly and blushed. "Just thinking about this some."

"Want to back out?" he asked gently. "You can if you want to."

She shook her head. "No. I have to go."

"I was asking if you had any questions."

The raven-haired girl scratched her chin and then asked, "Do they have a back door? If so, we need to cover that, too, or we might lose one - or all of them."

Jim nodded. "Yeah, there's a back door. I want you and Martin to cover that, while Danny and I go in the front door."

"I know you said that it was secluded," Martin said. "But how close is their closest neighbor? Someone hears the gunshots and we're liable to have the police - or even the Marines at Carthage - come after us."

The older man frowned and shook his head. "Gunshots from that area are somewhat normal. They like to have shooting contests with one another. That's how they decide who's buying the beer - or pizza - or dope. As long as the bullets don't leave their area, the cops leave them alone."

"Waste of ammo," Danny said.

Jim looked at him. "When you sponge - or steal - off family and friends, it doesn't really matter much." He stood up fully, crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head slowly. "I really didn't want it to come to this. I thought when Penny went off to college, they'd calm down and maturity would take over. Instead, they fixated on Diana, even though she's old enough to be their mother."

"I heard that!" Diana's voice could be heard from the living room.

"I'm in trouble," he muttered and smiled. "Sorry, dear!" he yelled towards her. He then looked at the three young people with him. "We have to kill them - period!"

"What about their bodies?" Martin asked. "What do we do with them?"

Jim looked away from them and said, "We either burn down the cabin with them in it - which I don't want to do - or we bury them in shallow graves." He looked back at them and sighed; his features appeared weary and exhausted. "I hate it that we're even discussing this at all."

"Dad always said that you have to shoot mad dogs," Danny said.

"These aren't our mad dogs," Jim said and looked at him.

"You went through the police," Martin pointed out. "Look where it got you."

"If we hadn't shown up when we did, they might have tried a home invasion," Jane added. "You would've been killed and they would have taken Diana." She crossed her arms over her chest. "We have to do this."

"I know," Jim said. "I know."

**oooooooooo**

The four left the house at eight-thirty the next morning, after breakfast. Jim carried a large rifle, as well as a pistol holstered at his right side. Danny carried a shotgun and had a rifle slung over his left shoulder. Martin carried Daria's .30-06 rifle, plus had his Glock holstered at his right side. Jane carried her usual pistols and held the AK-47 in her hands.

Outside on the back porch, Diana hugged her husband, pulled his head down and whispered in his left ear, "What you told Jane goes for you, man of mine. No grandstanding and no heroics."

The older man kissed her left cheek and then her lips. He gave her a small smile. "I don't want them to bother you - ever again."

She held onto him still and added, "We could still go to the cops if you prefer."

He shook his head. "Part of me wants to, but I'm afraid that it would do no good. You know that Trimble's brother got that girl pregnant when he raped her - but he never got arrested or even charged for it. They may not get along, but that deputy's been protecting his brother anyway."

"That's just a rumor," she said. "We don't know that for certain."

"Uh, huh," he said. "Sure. But what if they kidnap and rape you? They could claim it was consensual. It would be your word against four of theirs. That kind of crap could ruin your reputation and make you out to be a slut. I don't want to take a chance on _any _of that - not anymore."

Diana closed her eyes and embraced Jim tighter.

Daria moved up to Martin and kissed him hard for several seconds. Then she laid her head against his chest. "I should be with you guys," she said. "I could help."

"You are helping," he said. "You and Helen, as well as Pam and Trent. I want all of you to watch my aunt - help protect her - and Amber and Vicky, too."

"You got it, boy. Martin?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't get hurt, please. I like having a guy I love in my life." She smiled at him. "I never thought it would happen quite the way it did, but I'm glad it did."

They kissed again.

Jane and Danny stood face to face, their foreheads touching. "I've posed for you," she said quietly, "so you need to do the same for me next time."

"Sure, but if our hosts walk in on us, that's going to take some explaining." He smiled. "Me laying there butt naked and you with a drawing pad."

There was a twinkle in Jane's eyes as she said, "I'm certain they've seen _Titanic_, so they should get the reference."

"Yeah, but Kate Winslet just laid there as DiCaprio drew her," he pointed out. "From what you said you wanted, she _never _did...well, being a girl, she couldn't have, anyway."

Jane smirked at him. "Imagine that drawing being found in a safe eighty years later."

They laughed and kissed.

Finally, the hugs ended and the four left together towards the woods in back of the house.

**oooooooooo**

Twenty minutes later, Diana stood in the kitchen and looked at two recipe cards she had set up near the stove. "I need to go out to the garden and get some onions - and strawberries," she said. "Then I can go get some eggs, too."

Helen looked up from the pie crust she was working on. "I'll go with you," she said.

The smaller woman shook her head. "The garden's just outside. Besides, I don't need someone constantly following me around. It makes me antsy. I'll be O.K."

"But if those guys--"

"It's too late in the day for them," Diana said. "It's way past their bedtime. They won't be active until, oh, say four or five in the afternoon." She smiled at Helen. "Don't worry about them. I'll just be outside a few minutes." She grabbed a plastic bag and stepped out the back door.

**oooooooooo**

About that time, the four hunters came within sight of the cabin, which was built halfway up one hill.

"There it is," Jim said from behind a large boulder several hundred yards up an opposite hill from the cabin.

Jane frowned. "Doesn't look like much."

The older man shook his head. "It's owned by a guy from Michigan who comes here once a year to hunt. They squat there most of the rest of the time."

"Don't see anybody there," Martin pointed out.

"They'll be inside asleep," Jim said. "Let's head down there."

The four slowly made their way from the one hill to the next. As they moved, they used the trees, shrubbery and landscape to conceal themselves.

**oooooooooo**

"There she is," Wally whispered to the other three boys from behind a large oak tree. "Damn, she looks good in them jeans."

"Ain't that the truth," Jay whispered back. "You got that Taser ready?"

The heavyset kid held up the weapon and smiled.

**oooooooooo**

Diana smiled as the sun came out of the clouds. "Looks like it'll be a warm day out," she said and bent over the green onions in the garden.

For the next minute, she examined several onions and took five of them.

Then something touched the side of her right breast and she started to swing around automatically. Suddenly, she felt as if all her senses were ablaze and she fell face down on the ground with a strangled gasp and cry.

The four boys stood around her and Simon said, "Damn, Trimble, I never seen anyone jerk like that before. I thought you just poked her boob with it."

Wally quickly knelt down by the stunned woman, pulled an oily rag from his back pocket, and shoved it into her mouth. Then he touched the Taser prongs to her buttocks and sent another jolt through her. That made her grunt and jump slightly. Then he looked at the others and said, "Grab a wing or a leg and let's scoot."

"Nice ass," Ray said and slapped her buttocks hard.

They each took a limb and picked her up, still face down.

The effects of being shocked started to wear off and she weakly struggled as they carried her towards the woods.

**oooooooooo**

After fifteen minutes, Jim and the others reached one side of the cabin. All of them took their weapons and released the safeties.

Then, Jane stopped and said quietly, "Something doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean, honey?" Danny asked as he moved up against her.

"I don't think they're here," she said. "Where's their car? They had a Thunderbird when I saw them the other day."

She and Martin went to the front of the cabin. He looked in a window, while she pushed open the front door. The interior had a lived in look, with food wrappers and boxes strewn about, as well as beer and soft drink cans. It still had a lingering burnt tobacco smell as well. "Nobody's here," she said and shut the door.

Jim thought for a second as they walked back and his face paled. "Oh, hell," he muttered and closed his eyes.

Jane saw his reaction and she paled as well. "Shit! We better get back to the house - fast!"

The four turned and left the way they came. Their movements were a lot quicker going back.

(To be continued...)


	5. Gunfight

**5. Gunfight**

Daria walked into the kitchen and saw Helen alone as she worked with the pie dough. She moved to cabinet where the water glasses were kept, opened it and looked around at her mother. "Where's Diana?"

Helen glanced at her daughter briefly, then looked back down at the pie shells. "Oh, she went out to the garden to get some onions and strawberries," she said.

The teen set the glass on the counter top and blinked. "What? She went out alone? And you didn't call for one of us?"

The older woman stopped and said, "She said that she didn't need anyone to go with her - said that those boys would be asleep by now."

"I hope that those aren't famous last words," Daria muttered and shook her head. "I'll check and see if she's still O.K." She stepped outside and pulled her .357-Magnum out of its holster as she moved out into the back yard.

When she reached the garden, she saw the plastic bag that Diana had taken; the light breeze blew the bag itself around the garden, but the teen didn't see the woman herself. She saw something move in the woods and squinted, but whatever she saw was too far away - but it was definitely people, at least three or more. "Shit!"

She ran back to the house, opened the back door and said, "She's gone and I think they've got her! Get Trent and Pam, Mom! Have them come out here, quick!"

"I'll help!" Helen said and reached for one of her .45s, which rested in its holster on her right hip.

Daria shook her head quickly. "You'd better stay with Amber and Vicky, Mom. I'm going after her!" She turned and ran back through the yard.

Helen looked through one of the windows and saw Daria disappear around the shed and yelled for Trent and Pam.

**oooooooooo**

"Come on!" Jane yelled as she ran. "Hurry!"

"Jane, slow down!" Jim said as the three males tried to keep up with her. "Last thing any of us need right now is a broken leg."

"We have to get back! Now!" She kept up her fast pace as she jumped around or over obstacles.

"They may not be there," he said.

"They already have her, Jim!" she said. Her voice was panicked. "We've got to get back before they hurt her or Daria!"

"Daria?" Martin asked, his expression confused.

"What do you mean they already have her?" Jim asked as he stopped. He panted and bent over slightly, his hands on his lower thighs. "How would you know that?"

Jane stopped and looked at him, her face terrified. "I just do! I can't explain it, but...I know things. We've got to get back!" She ran again, followed by the other three.

"She's right, Jim," Martin said. "Sometimes, she senses danger."

"Yeah," Danny added and wiped sweat off of his forehead. "Usually, it's vague, but at times, it's crystal clear."

The older man stopped briefly against a maple tree, panted again, and continued on the run. "I understand," he said. "She's got the vision."

"What?" both younger men asked.

"You're great-great grandmother had it, Martin. The ability to see things - know things that they normally wouldn't - or shouldn't. Frightening thing to witness at times. She always knew when someone was about to die." He shuddered from the memory. "She knew when _she_ was about to die."

"I wonder what Jane meant about Daria," Martin said as he watched the dark-haired teen disappear around the side of the hill they were on. The three males followed her around the hill.

**oooooooooo**

Diana felt her senses fully return and struggled against the boys as they carried her through the woods. She tried to yell out, but the cloth rag in her mouth was too tightly wedged for her to spit it out and the most that she could get out was a muffled groan.

"Maybe you oughtta zap her again, Wally," Simon said as he held her right leg tightly. "The way she's fighting, it's getting harder to carry her."

Then, the woman's leg came free from his grasp. The added weight on the other three boys caused them to drop her one at a time. She landed on the ground then, and before any of them could get another grip on her, she turned over onto her back and rammed the heel of her left shoe into Simon's crotch. He doubled over and cried out in pain, which caused the other three boys to look at him and briefly freeze.

Diana then kicked one of the twins (she wasn't sure which, but it was Jay) in the belly and got to her feet. Before she could even start to run, Ray tackled her on the ground, pinned her onto her back and struggled with her as he tried to hold her down by her shoulders.

Her left hand came up fast; she raked her nails across his face and immediately drew blood. Ray roared in anger and backhanded her face with his right fist. "Bitch!" he yelled and then punched her left jaw. Her head swung around hard and he punched her again. "I'll show you, dammit!"

"NO!" Wally quickly pushed the boy off of her and glared down at him. "We let you have first shot and do what you wanted to that blonde from Rock Oak and you caused her face and head to swell up bad. You ain't doing that to Diana - not before we get our turn with her first."

Ray glared at Wally and immediately jumped at him. The impact knocked both boys onto the ground and they started to fight. Jay looked at them in amazement and Simon still laid on the ground and moaned as he held his injured manhood.

The redhead punched the heavier boy's face and yelled, "You bastard! Don't you ever push me again!"

When he tried a second punch, Wally rammed his fist up into his chin and knocked him off. Then their positions changed. "I'm in charge, you asshole!" he yelled down at Ray's face and punched his left side hard. "You do what I say, got it?" He punched him again.

Diana felt the left side of her face start to swell and suppressed a moan. She noticed that none of their attention was on her; so she quickly jumped up and ran hard back towards the house, zigging and zagging around the trees and other obstacles normally found in the woods.

"Hey!" she heard Jay's voice behind her. "Dammit, guys! She's getting away! Stop fighting and come on!"

She didn't look back, but she heard them move after her and groaned. She finally managed to pull the rag out of her mouth and dropped it as she ran. As she ran, she spat several times to get the oily taste out of her mouth.

**oooooooooo**

Daria quickly ran into the woods and silently cursed the difficulty she had running in her Doc Martens. She looked ahead and kept a tight grip on her pistol as she ran.

Then she saw a flash of light blue ahead. _Diana's blouse, _she thought. _I see her! _"DIANA! Over here!" She ran towards the woman.

Then Daria saw the boys as they moved behind the woman. She heard them curse loudly as they closed in on her. She cocked the Magnum as she ran to intercept them.

**oooooooooo**

"Shit! Someone's coming for Diana!" Wally said. "Catch her!"

"We ain't finished, Trimble," Ray said as he ran alongside the heavier boy. "We're going to have it out later."

"Shut up, you dumbass!" Wally said. "We have to get her!"

"Both of you shut up!" Jay said. "She's important, not your stupid fight!"

**oooooooooo**

Diana poured on the speed and actually pulled ahead of the boys for about five seconds. Then her left foot hit a tree root hidden by old leaves and she fell hard and fast to the ground. She cried out, in both shock and pain. The force of the impact temporarily stunned her.

**oooooooooo**

"NO!" Daria yelled when she saw the woman fall. _Bastards shot her! _She lifted the pistol, aimed it and fired at the boy nearest to Diana.

The bullet hit Ray's right side near the base of the rib cage and he stopped and moved back slightly; he screamed at the sight of his own blood, slapped his right hand onto his side, then fell onto his back.

Wally and Simon immediately got behind different trees and Jay quickly knelt by his brother.

"Ray?" he asked uncertainly as he looked at the blood pumping from the injury and between the injured boy's fingers.

"Get under cover, Collins!" Wally yelled at his friend.

"Ray?" the boy asked again. He put his own hands over his brother's hand and pressed down on the wound.

The injured youth cried out; he opened his eyes and looked up at his brother. "Jay? It burns, dammit, it burns!"

"I'll help you, Ray, I'll help you." He grabbed his brother with blood-stained hands and tried to pull him up to his feet. "Help me, you two! He's been shot!"

**oooooooooo**

Daria reached Diana, looked warily at the boys and knelt down. She then helped the woman to her feet. "You're not shot!" the teen said quickly. "Thank God! But, I thought they shot you!"

"No, but I twisted my ankle, Daria," the older woman said as she glanced at the boys as well. "Help me move."

Daria wrapped her left arm around her boyfriend's aunt and they moved away from the boys. Diana limped as she moved, while the girl held her as steady as possible. They stopped twice and looked back; Daria held the pistol ready as she looked at the boys each time, but then they moved on.

**oooooooooo**

"Ray?" Jay asked as his brother passed out. "Ray?" He laid the boy back onto the ground and knelt beside him. "Wake up! I'll get you some help! Wake up!"

Simon knelt beside him and felt for a pulse on Ray's right wrist, then at his neck.

Jay looked at him, his expression near panicked. "Is he still with us? Is he still with us?"

The bald boy nodded and said, "He's still with us, Jay, but it doesn't look good. I don't know what we can do."

The redhead cried out loudly and glared towards the fleeing women. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU BITCH!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Jay pulled the shotgun from off his shoulder and turned towards where the two women were still moving. He shouldered the weapon, cocked it and aimed at them.

"Aw, shit, no," Wally said and stood up. "Not this! Don't do it, Jay! We've got to get Ray out of here!"

Daria heard the cry and threat and immediately shoved Diana behind a tree. Before she could turn around, the boy fired his weapon. Almost immediately, she jerked forward slightly and fell to her knees.

"DARIA!" the older woman cried out and reached out to her.

The auburn-haired teen looked at her, a shocked and pained expression on her face and said, "Ow!" Then she fell face first onto the ground.

Just then, Pam Garrett reached them; the curly-haired brunette dropped to her knees beside Daria, lifted an automatic pistol and fired it towards the boys several times.

The boys quickly found cover again as the bullets whizzed by them.

"How bad are you hit, Daria?" Pam asked as she looked down at the girl's face.

Tears ran from Daria's eyes and she looked up at her friend. "My ass is on fire, Pam," she said through gritted teeth.

Pam looked at the teen's buttocks and saw several blood spots on the blue jean material. She said, "You're hit, but I can't tell how bad."

From the distance, the boys returned fire and that caused Pam to hunker down over Daria.

Then Trent arrived with the deer rifle. He stopped behind a large maple tree, looked around the trunk as he aimed it towards the boys and fired, one shot after another.

**oooooooooo**

The third rifle shot hit caused a shower of tree bark to hit the boys and Jay looked at the others. "Let's rush them! I wanna kill that bitch who shot Ray!"

Simon shook his head. "Dammit, man, we're outgunned! When the others show up, we're dead! We need to get out of here, right now!"

"But Ray..."

Wally said, "Simon and I will carry him. You cover us while we get him. We'll get him back to the cabin and see what we can do for him."

"We'll take him to the hospital!"

Wally looked at him and said, "Let's just get him out of here, first, O.K.?"

Jay fired the shotgun again towards Diana and her guests as Simon took Ray's arms and Wally took his legs.

The two boys picked up the injured youth and carried him away, while Jay fired twice more in their general direction.

Trent returned fire three more times and saw them as they disappeared behind some large bushes and rocks. He said, "They're out of range now." He looked down at Daria. "How bad is she?"

Pam looked up at him. "She's been shot in the ass. Can you carry her?"

He slung the rifle over his right shoulder and knelt down beside Pam. "Daria," he said. "Can you turn over?"

"Trent?" the auburn-haired girl asked and sobbed.

"Yes, Daria." He patted her left shoulder gently. "We're here for you. Can you turn over for me so I can pick you up and carry you? You think you can do that?"

"I...I don't know, Trent. It hurts." She rolled onto her back and gasped at the pain from her buttocks touching the ground.

The singer slid his arms under her shoulders and her knees and picked her up off the ground. Then he looked down at Diana. "What about you? How bad are you hurt?"

The older woman gave him a weak smile. "I twisted my ankle. If Pam can help me, I'll make it back."

"O.K. Hold on, Daria. I'll get you back to the house." He walked with her as Pam helped Diana to her feet and followed them. After moving several feet, the younger woman looked back, saw nobody and turned back around.

**oooooooooo**

"Daria!" Helen cried out and rushed out to the back yard towards Trent. "How bad is she? How bad is she?"

"I'm still here, Mom!" Daria said and looked at her.

"Let's get her inside, Helen, and on a bed," Trent said. "She's getting heavy." He saw Amber just outside the door, her eyes wide open and tears running down her cheeks. "Amber! Hold the door open, honey."

The little girl held open the door and Trent carried Daria inside and through the kitchen. Vicky stood there crying and he said, "Vicky, don't cry."

"Is Daria dead?" she asked and sobbed.

"No!" Daria said as she lifted her head and looked down at the girl. "I'm O.K., just hurt a little."

Trent carried her on to her bedroom, followed closely by Helen, and laid her on the bed.

The teen quickly turned over onto her belly, gasped, then panted several times. "Oh, hell. My ass is on fire, Mom!"

Helen turned to Trent and said, "O.K., Trent, you step out now. Let me take care of my daughter."

**oooooooooo**

Pam, closely followed by Amber and Vicky, took Diana to the living room and set her on one of the recliners. "Back up, girls," she said and removed the woman's left shoe.

Diana cried out as her shoe was removed and tossed aside.

"Diana," the curly-haired brunette said, "I need you to move your toes and foot for me, O.K.?"

"Yeah," the older woman said and complied. The toes moved without trouble, but when she moved her foot, she gritted her teeth and then exhaled. "That hurts."

Pam looked the foot over carefully and said, "I don't think it's broken, but you've certainly sprained it. Have you got an ice pack in your freezer?"

Diana shook her head. "Not yet. First get me a small paper bag and the bottle of apple cider vinegar from the kitchen. Oh, and a towel, too."

The younger woman looked at her curiously and nodded. "That's what my Mom does, too," she said. "It always made my foot stink when she did it to me."

"It works for me, despite the vinegar smell. Go ahead. I'll wait."

**oooooooooo**

Inside Daria's bedroom, Helen reached under her daughter's belly and loosened her pants. "Sorry about this, sweetie," she said.

Daria faced the wall as she felt her pants being pulled down her legs. She drew her breath in deeply for several seconds, then winced as she felt her panties going down as well. "S'nothing," she said through gritted teeth. "I always enjoy being humiliated. It just makes the day that much better."

Despite seeing the numerous bloody spots on Daria buttock cheeks and upper thighs, Helen smiled at Daria's deadpan comment.

"How bad is it, Mom?"

"You have ten, maybe fifteen little injuries on your butt and upper thighs. 'Peppered' would be a good description for it."

Daria snorted. "Oh, that's just lovely."

Helen then turned her attention to the Doc Martens and worked on loosening them.

**oooooooooo**

Jane reached the house first and rushed in the back door, her assault rifle still in her hands. She ran into the living room and stopped as she saw Pam, Diana and the two little girls stare at her in shock.

The raven-haired teen saw Pam apply strips of vinegar-soaked paper bag to the other woman's left ankle and asked, "Are you hurt? Where's Daria?"

"She's in her room, Jane," Diana said. "My ankle was twisted, but she was shot." Then, to Pam she said, "Now take the towel and wrap it around my ankle. Then help me to Daria's room so we can assist Helen with her."

Jane ran to Daria's bedroom to see Helen move a towel under Daria's midsection. Her best friend laid face down and was naked from the middle of her back and down to her feet. "_Amiga!_"she cried out and moved up to her. "How bad is it?"

Daria looked up from the pillow, her face tear streaked and pain-filled. She held up her panties with her right hand. "Jane, I think my underwear has religion."

The raven-haired girl saw the numerous holes in the garment's rear portion and nodded. She remembered her joke about that from when the two stayed at the late Robert Cord's home right after Black Saturday. "I can see that."

Just then, Martin ran in and moved towards Daria.

Helen quickly covered her daughter's nakedness and said, "Get out, Martin!"

"Daria?" he asked. "Honey?"

The auburn-haired teen looked up at him and shook her head. "Please, Martin, go," she said and sniffled. "I don't want you to see me like this."

Pam assisted Diana into the bedroom then. "Get in the living room, Martin," the older woman said. "Let us take care of Daria, then you can see her."

Jim and Danny stood in the hall, leaned against the wall and panted as Martin stepped out. The teen looked stunned and walked numbly toward the living room.

"Diana?" Jim then called out. "Are you hurt?"

"I twisted my ankle," she called back. "But Daria looks like she got peppered by birdshot."

"What can I do to help?" he asked.

"Get us a washbasin with hot water. Then put the tweezers in a small bowl of rubbing alcohol and get the big box of plastic bandages. Bring several washcloths."

"Do we need to take either of you to the hospital?" he asked.

"No," Diana said. "This is just like when Paul accidentally shot Penny in the butt seven years ago. I can take care of this."

Jane looked at Daria as the teen cried into her pillow. She saw the bruise on the left side of Diana's face, as well as her wrapped ankle. She gripped the assault rifle tightly, turned and left the room. She then walked by Jim and Danny towards the kitchen.

Danny saw the looks of both anger and determination on his girlfriend's face and followed her through the house.

Without a word, she left the house out the kitchen door and took off at a jog back towards the woods. A few seconds later, her boyfriend followed her and moved to catch up with her.

**oooooooooo**

Several minutes after escaping the gunfight, Wally and the other boys made it to the Thunderbird, parked by the side of an abandoned homestead. They laid Ray in the backseat.

Simon wiped sweat off his forehead and asked, "What do we do now?"

"We go to the hospital!" Jay said loudly. "We get my brother taken care of."

"NO!" Ray yelled from the seat and looked up at his brother. He panted several times and continued, "If we go to the hospital and they find out how I got shot and what we did, we'll all get arrested. You can patch me up and I'll be O.K. My ass ain't going to no jail."

"But you need help, Ray," Jay said. His voice cracked as he talked.

"Ray's right," Wally said as he got behind the steering wheel. "We can do this. Let's get him back to the cabin. We'll bandage him up and take off for another hideout so's he can get better. Then we'll take off out of here. Start up new someplace else. Now get in so we can get to the cabin and get our shit."

**oooooooooo**

Diana looked over Daria's backside, took a deep breath and said, "Daria, I'm going to get the birdshot out of you with tweezers. It's going to hurt some, and I'm sorry for that. Feel free to scream or cuss. I'll understand."

"Mom?" Daria said and took several quick breaths.

Helen moved up to her face. "Yes, sweetie?"

"Get my glasses off. I'm going to bury my face in the pillow."

Helen removed the glasses, folded them up and laid them on the bedside table.

"Now tell Martin that I love him."

"You can tell him that yourself after this is done," her mother said.

Diana adjusted her position on the bed and said, "Helen, take hold of Daria's wrists. Hold them down on the bed. Pam, you do the same with her legs." The two women did as they were told and Diana moved the tweezers to the first injury, on her left buttock cheek. "And so it begins."

Daria took a deep breath and buried her face into the pillow.

**oooooooooo**

Martin winced as he heard Daria's muffled scream. He took one of the couch cushions and held it to his chest.

Trent looked up and saw the fear in the girls' eyes and the teen's reaction to the scream. He said, "Martin, why don't you help me watch the girls as they play outside?"

The teen looked at him, unsure of what to do. He remained on the couch and finally shook his head.

"Martin, you go on outside with Trent and the girls," Jim said and patted his left shoulder gently. "There's nothing you can do right now anyway."

The boy stood up and followed the other three as they went outside.

**oooooooooo**

Ray was carried into the cabin and laid on the couch by Wally and Simon. Jay knelt by his brother and asked, "How are we going to bandage him?"

That question prompted Wally, who said, "Put folded-up towels, one in front and one in back, on the injury. Since there's an exit wound, we don't have any bullet to look for. Simon, get the towels." The bald-headed boy obeyed and the leader continued. "It don't look like the bullet broke up in him, so we'll just tie the towels on with a bed sheet. Then we keep him comfortable and let him rest while we pack up."

Jay looked at him and asked, "When are we leaving?"

"I want to be out of here by eleven, noon at the latest. Go on, Jay, get the bed sheet. I'll get him some water."

"I'd rather have a beer," Ray said.

Wally smiled at him. "Maybe later, when things calm down."

**oooooooooo**

When Jane and Danny arrived back at the cabin, they saw the Thunderbird and heard movement inside the building.

They sat, rested out of sight, and waited in silence.

Finally, Danny asked, "Are you sure about this?"

Jane stood up, released the safety on the rifle, and said, "Get to the back and wait. Shoot anyone who comes out that back door." Then she ran towards the cabin.

**oooooooooo**

Wally tied the bed sheet around Ray tightly, which caused the boy to cry out in pain. Then he stopped and asked, "What was that sound?"

"All I heard was Ray cry out," Simon said. "What sound?"

Then the front door was kicked in and the four looked to see Jane Lane stand there, the AK-47 ready in her hands.

Jay and Wally both grabbed for their weapons, while Ray and Simon both froze in shock.

Jane aimed the rifle towards them and pulled the trigger.

**oooooooooo**

"No more!" Daria cried out. "Please, stop this! It hurts too much!"

Diana dropped another round shot in a small bowl of water and lightly patted the girl's left leg. "That was the last one, Daria. We'll wash you up and bandage you. You just relax and calm down. Helen, you and Pam can let her go now."

The two women released the teen and sat down in nearby chairs, both obviously tired.

Daria's response was to cry some more as Diana ran a wet, soaped-up washcloth over her backside.

**oooooooooo**

Nearly a half-hour later, Jane Lane and Danny Smith returned to the farm; they saw Amber and Vicky play as they were watched by Trent and Martin.

Trent saw the couple walk up and tensed. He looked at Jane's face, saw her expression and asked, "Where were you two?"

Jane simply looked at him and said, "It's done." Then, she looked at Martin. "How's Daria?"

"I don't know," he said. "They chased me off."

The front door then opened and Helen said, "Martin, Daria wants you."

Martin ran to the door and inside, followed closely by Jane. They moved quickly through the living room and up to Daria's bedroom.

The teen still laid on her belly; her head rested sideways on the fluffed up pillow. The quilt was pulled up to her shoulders and her face was still tear-streaked.

"Hey," he said. "How are you doing?"

"I hurt like hell," she said.

He bent down and hugged her awkwardly. Then he kissed her and said, his voice quiet, "I love you."

She sniffled and returned his kiss. "I love you, too." She glanced at Jane and said, "Where did you go?"

"I took care of business, Daria," the raven-haired girl said and hugged her, also awkwardly. "I took care of business."

(To be continued...)


	6. Business Pursuits

**6. Business Pursuits**

Odell Jones sat in the driver's seat of his minivan and hummed along with an Elvis Presley song as it played on the CD player. _Sun's out, good song from the King, a beautiful piece in the back, and all I need to totally make my day is one good "sale"._

In the back of the minivan, Stephanie McPherson laid on her left side and cried. She had cried on and off ever since his actions with her from the night before. Listening to her captor hum happily now only added insult to her injury.

Odell heard her whimper and frowned briefly. "You have no reason to cry, Daria!" he yelled. "It wasn't that bad and you know it."

"Stephanie!" she yelled back as she sat up.

"What?"

"My name is Stephanie! I'm not Daria, whoever the hell she is."

He blinked as if he were startled briefly. _She's right, you know. The only thing she has in common with Daria is her hairstyle, glasses and gender. _He sighed. "O.K., Stephanie, if I call you by your name, will you stop your bawling?"

"If you let me go, I won't tell anyone about you...and what you did to me."

A smile crossed his face as he remembered the night before and he glanced in the rearview mirror at the top of her head. "Not a chance, dear," he said. "We, or I should say _you_, have a job to do. You're going to make me a lot of money." _As soon as I find some paying customers._

The girl's response was to lay back on her side and cry some more.

**oooooooooo**

After the incident with the four punks, things calmed down at the Peters homestead and everyone's attention turned to preparing the SUV for Trent, Pam and the girls to drive to the other side of the state.

It was later that same day. Trent and Jim stood above the engine, while Martin laid beneath it. Danny checked the tire pressure and prepared to inflate any low tires.

"Boy," Jim said loudly, "you got that oil pan nut loose yet?"

"Just a sec," Martin called back. "Whoever tightened it last got it on too tight!" A few seconds of grunts could be heard, then he said, "O.K., we're draining - crap! I've got oil on my face!"

"You're supposed to get it in the drain pan," Danny said as he knelt near the front passenger tire. He smiled as he looked at the teen. "Not on your face."

Martin muttered something and the word "Sherlock" could be heard.

"What's that, boy?" Jim asked.

"Nothing," Martin said and pulled himself out from under the vehicle.

Jim and Trent looked at him and the older man shook his head. "Better wash your face before you get any of that in your eyes, nose, or mouth," he said.

Martin nodded, snorted in disgust and said, "I'll be back."

Inside the kitchen, Diana and Helen looked at him, then at each other and laughed. He rolled his eyes and walked on to the hallway.

The door to the bathroom was shut and he knocked on it. Pam's voice could be heard. "Who is it?"

"Martin," he said. "I need in there."

"I'm washing Amber right now. Can it wait?"

"I've got oil on my face."

Just then, Jane appeared at his side. "I'll take care of it, Martin. Hold on." She entered the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Then several seconds later, she came back out and handed the teen boy a few paper towels and a moistened towelette. "Here you go."

"Thanks." He began to wipe on his face.

Jane smirked as she watched him. "You'd better get it all off before Daria sees that you're oiled up for her." She laughed as she walked off.

Martin looked at her, muttered again and walked off to his bedroom. There, he stood in front of the dresser mirror and cleaned off his face.

After that, he walked to the next bedroom and looked in the open door. Daria laid on her belly and slept. She had fallen asleep not long after being treated and bandaged. He resisted the temptation to walk in and wake her. Instead he silently blew her a kiss and whispered, "Love you, babe." Then he walked back outside.

**oooooooooo**

"Guys - has this ever happened to you?" The voice on the radio was loud and clear. Everyone in the living room winced as Jim lowered the volume slightly. Diana sat in a rocking chair nearby, while Daria, Martin and Helen sat on a couch. Trent and Pam sat on the love seat, while Jane, Danny and the girls sat on the floor.

Next came on the sound of a man whistling as he took a shower. The water was turned off and a man still whistled as he dried off. Then he said, "Time to put on the powder, then get dressed."

After a couple of seconds, the man screamed in pain and yelled, his voice panicked, "Honey, what kind of powder did you buy at the store?"

"The salesman said it was as good as Roly-Poly," a female voice said, "but a lot cheaper."

"This stuff is eating holes in me!" he cried out and started bawling. "Call 911!"

The announcer came back on. "Don't let this happen to you! Buy Roly-Poly Jock Itch Powder instead! Our competitors use such ingredients as powdered cayenne peppers, red ants and lead imported from China! We, however, use the finest ingredients from the good old U.S.A. Roly-Poly Jock Itch Powder! If you don't have a wife to apply it, ask the female clerk at the drug store to apply it for you. You'll be glad you did."

Martin Peters chuckled as the radio commercial played and Daria Morgendorffer covered her face as she shook her head.

Diana Peters glanced at her husband, Jim, and said, "If Paul wasn't down South right now, I'd say that he wrote this stuff. This matches his sense of humor."

"You guys listen to Dr. Neon, too, huh?" Jane asked as she sewed on one of her shirts.

Jim nodded. "He tells a bit more than the regular newscasts do - even if he isn't on much."

Then Dr. Neon himself came on. "Pirate Radio 97.1 is back on the air! Can't talk much, but here's the recent scoop as I hear it. The United States is getting assistance from Canada and Great Britain, from emergency food and medical supplies, to troops sent in to bolster U.S. forces as they fight to restore order in the devastated areas. Keep in mind that if you have British or Canadian troops in your area, you do have to follow their orders, just as you would those of U.S. troops. Those forces will be used in the worst hit areas, such as Virginia and Pennsylvania.

"Word has reached me of the draft being reinstated, but I cannot confirm that as yet. I do know, according to my secret source in General Simpson's office, that it isn't being considered in the First Military Section. However, the Second Military Section, which comprises the states of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, has called up young men and women from between the ages of seventeen to twenty-two. Not too surprisingly, there is some resistance to that idea. General Robert Bakeson, military governor of the Second Military Section, is on record as stating that the draft is necessary to both restore order and put down secessionist movements that have been popping up there since Black Saturday.

"Have to go now. Talk to you all later on."

The radio went silent and everyone sat in silence as they digested the little bit of news they received.

**oooooooooo**

After the radio broadcast, Daria walked through the house to work her legs some, followed closely by Martin.

"You're reminding me of my grandma," he said as Daria shuffled slowly into her bedroom.

The girl turned towards her boyfriend and gave him a frown. "I have no idea why people think you are so unromantic," she said, her voice sarcastic. "I mean, the words you speak just scream love."

"I meant the way you're shuffling," he said quietly. "That's the way she moved when I was little."

"It hurts like hell when I move my legs," she said and groaned "It's not like I can help it."

"I can help you," he said and gave her a small smile.

"Oh?"

"I can carry you around," he said.

Daria moved up to him and leaned against his chest. "Thank you, but no. I need to work my legs so they can limber up."

Martin wrapped his arms around her back and ran the fingers of his right hand through her auburn hair. "I can carry you to your bed," he whispered.

"Yeah, and when you do, Mom and your Aunt Diana will walk in and we'll be in hot water."

He cleared his throat and said in a very bad attempt at a German accent, said, "I am zee physical therapist, Doctor Vingblast. It isss importank to work your legs properly. So my idea isss to take your robe and underwear off, then lay you on zee bed and bend your legs back. Then vee shall-"

Daria quickly put her right hand over Martin's mouth and whispered, "That sounds rather fun, 'Doctor Vingblast'. Lower your voice and tell me more."

"Vell," he continued, his voice quieter, "vee shall exercise your legs to see if they can hold up some weight...for example, my weight, as I press against them."

She stopped his talking by quickly kissing him and laying her head back against his chest. "I can guess what happens next," she said and smiled. She kissed the front of his shirt and closed her eyes.

Then a few seconds later, she broke the hug and said, "Let's keep moving." She walked back out of the bedroom and he followed her.

**oooooooooo**

Stephanie watched Odell as he spoke to the three men and shuddered. She couldn't understand what was said, but she didn't have to. It was plainly obvious what they were talking about and what would happen to her next.

Then Odell shook the old man's hand and he got back into the minivan. "Good news," he said. "All three of them are interested and we're getting off the main road for some privacy. You make them happy, girl, and you'll make me happy." He reached behind himself and briefly pulled out his pistol. "You piss me off, though, and I'll make tonight a nightmare. Oh, and if you try to run off, I'll shoot you." He replaced the pistol behind his back and pulled the back of his shirt over it. "Play along, Stephanie, and we'll get along."

A tear escaped her left eye and she bit her lower lip as she fought to keep her composure. She was dressed in a thin white T-shirt that called attention to her chest and a skirt that came halfway up her thighs.

The three men drove ahead of them in a large Dodge pickup truck and Odell followed them, a large smile on his face.

"When we get stopped and outside, you stand there and look pretty. Stick your chest out for them and give them a nice smile."

Several minutes later, they reached a sandy lot that once was a homestead. A stone fireplace and part of a porch still remained in the overgrown grass. The vehicles parked and all five people got outside. The youngest of the three in the truck held a shotgun and looked around the area carefully, as if looking for snakes.

Stephanie shook nervously as the men looked her over and when she saw Odell's glare, she put on a fake smile and stuck out her chest.

The older of the three smiled and nodded. "Oh, yeah," he said. "Definitely what I like to see." He glanced at his companions and they nodded as well.

Odell looked at them and said, "The three of you take her for the next hour. Enjoy yourselves. Do anything you want to her - except kill or cripple her."

The smiles on the three's faces turned to leers and the girl felt nauseous as they looked her over slowly.

"Think we can trade now?" Odell asked. "How much are you willing to pay for the hour?"

Stephanie wanted to bolt and run away; it took all of her energy and willpower to stand still. Because, despite Odell's threat and the pistol in the back of his pants, her impulse was to escape.

The youngest of the three calmly held up his shotgun in Odell's direction and quickly cocked it. "Your payment is you get to live," he said. "We'll keep the girl - and your minivan - but you can take a hike."

Odell kept his emotions still and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

The old man laughed at him. "You damned idiot," he said. "If anyone's going to make money off this bitch, it's going to be us."

The other young man made an "L" shape on his forehead with his right thumb and index finger and said, "Loser."

The would-be pimp narrowed his eyes at them and forced himself to exhale slowly.

"Come here, girl," the old man said and motioned at the brunette teen. "Let's get a close look at you."

Stephanie nearly broke down as she moved away from Odell towards them. When she was close enough, the old man grabbed her upper arms and pulled her to him. "You smell good," he said and gripped the neckline of her T-shirt. She cried out and he then said, "Let's strip her, boys!" Then he glanced at Odell. "You still here? Carry your ass on out of here."

The teen girl cried out loudly then as her T-shirt was torn off of her. She crossed her arms over her chest and fell to her knees.

Odell backed away a couple of feet and stopped when he saw that their full attention was on the girl. He quickly pulled the pistol out of the back of his pants, brought it in front of him and primed it.

The three men heard the noise and looked up at Odell and his weapon. The youth with the shotgun moved to raise his weapon, but Odell fired two shots into his chest. As he fell back, Stephanie screamed and the other two men reached for their own weapons. Before they could do anything, however, the pistol fired twice more and both fell to the ground as well.

For several seconds, the silence was jarring. Odell stood still, the pistol warm in his hand; smoke wafted out of the barrel as he looked at the three men on the ground. They laid still and a small, satisfied smile appeared on his face

Stephanie remained in her crouched position near the old man's body, her arms still crossed over her chest and her face pale. She shook as she stared at Odell, both terrified and relieved.

"You O.K., Daria?" he asked and blinked. _No, not Daria. You did it again. She's Stephanie. Try to remember that_. "I mean, Stephanie, are you O.K.?"

She nodded in jerking motions and let out a small sound that was almost a croak.

The former deacon took a deep breath and looked down at the pistol. Then he looked back at the girl. "Get inside their truck," he ordered her. "Search for anything we can use - food, blankets, money. Go, girl!"

The girl got up slowly and walked carefully around the bodies.

"Stephanie!"

She stopped at the truck's tailgate and turned around.

"I see a weapon in either of your hands and I will kill you very slowly. Got it?"

The brunette's face blanched even more and she nodded quickly. "Y-yes, sir."

Odell walked up to the closest body. "Go on," he said and aimed the pistol at the man's head.

The girl entered the truck and began her search. She winced each time as her captor fired his pistol. After the third shot, she swallowed and briefly looked at him.

**oooooooooo**

After dinner that evening, Danny Smith and Jane Lane remained at the table after everyone else got up. "O.K.," he said quietly, "you want to talk, or do you just want to mope around?"

The teen looked up at him and said, "I spent several weeks terrified that Trent was lost or dead, then found him. Now, I'm going to lose him again." Tears appeared in her eyes and she looked back down at the dinner table.

"You aren't going to lose him," he said. "He'll be at Pam's place, and I'm certain that after they settle in, we'll be welcome to come and visit."

She looked back at him and gave him a weak smile. "I know," she said. "It's just that with the country all bombed to hell and back, it's been good having him nearby."

He kissed her forehead and then kissed her lips briefly. "I felt the same way about leaving Jimmy and Melissa, though to be honest, I think they were happy I left."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Melissa always had to make sure she had enough clothes on when I was at their place. Apparently, their relaxing clothes are a bit loose...and I didn't want to see that much of either of them."

Jane hugged him then and laughed as he shuddered at the mental image he gave himself.

(To be continued...)


	7. Trent's Goodbye

**7. Trent's Goodbye**

Early the next morning, Stephanie McPherson sat in the back of the mini-van, an open romance novel near her right leg. As Odell drove and sang along with some older rock song, she looked over something she had found in her search of the truck.

After Odell had killed the men, she had carried different items from the truck to the minivan and even told him about the weapons, which he carried. She picked up one pill bottle and looked it over. Craig Dubois was prescribed thirty pills of Ambien for insomnia, ten milligrams each, and apparently still had four refills. _Not anymore he doesn't_, she thought. _Bottle looks pretty full._

The teen glanced at Odell briefly, then looked back down at the pills. _I wonder what all thirty pills would do if they were taken at one time?_

"Hey, Stephanie!" Odell yelled.

_Dammit! _She looked up and said, "Yes, sir?"

"Stand up a second, let me see your beauty."

_Not again! _"Yes, sir." She stood up and pulled up her shirt. As the man stared at her chest through the rear-view mirror, she kept a straight face on. Inside, however, she seethed with anger...and despair.

"Last night was great, girl," he said and licked his lips. "Just remember that I'm your protector and when you make me happy, I'll make you happy."

_If you really want me to be happy, then let me go. _"Yes, sir."

After Odell turned his attention back to his driving and Stephanie covered up again, she spread out several pills inside a plastic bag. She used the paperback book spine to quietly crush the pills.

**oooooooooo**

Much like Pam Garrett's habit of calling her parents daily to try and reach them, Daria also had a daily habit: checking her e-mail account for anything from Amy Barksdale, her aunt and Helen's sister.

The last message had also been the only one that she received right before the party left Carthage. Not much had really been said, except that she had been away from home when Black Saturday occurred and was very busy.

She had also been very worried that she was the only one in the family alive, a feeling that Daria understood and remembered all too well.

After breakfast, the auburn-haired teen shuffled into the living room, placed a pillow on the hard wooden chair and sat down in front of the computer. As she waited for the device to warm up, she thought back to Black Saturday and the electromagnetic pulse. _I would have expected there to be widespread electronic damage everywhere_, she thought. _But_ _I'm glad there wasn't._

From what she had heard on different news sources, the EMP damage was worse closer to the bombed cities, but even then it was sporadic. The cell phone towers, for instance, were nearly all burned out, but the cell phones themselves were undamaged.

A small smile appeared on her face as she got online and went to her e-mail account. "Ooooooh," she muttered. "Eighteen new pieces of mail today. Let's see what crap I got this time."

Daria opened the inbox folder and sighed as she read off each sender and subject line. "From Mrs. Salami Wahani, DEAR FRIEND..."

"Salami?" Jane walked up beside her and looked down at the screen. "That's 'Salah', Daria," she said.

"You read it your way, I'll read it mine."

The raven-haired teen shook her head and said, "I'm surprised that those African e-mails keep coming after what we've been through."

Daria shrugged. "Still a lot of untouched money in this country, apparently. Or else, they're automatically sent out." She deleted most of the mail, then smiled. "Finally, something from Aunt Amy. Would you get Mom for me?"

"Sure, I'll send her in." Jane walked out of the room.

Helen walked in quickly and she watched as Daria opened the e-mail. In silence, they read:

_Dear Helen and Daria, sorry I haven't written back sooner, but I've been working harder than hell since Black Saturday. First off, I'm sorry about what happened to Quinn and Jake, but thank God that you two are still alive. It means that I'm not all alone. I haven't found out anything about Rita and Erin yet, but I was able to find out about Mom. She's dead. The radiation must have got her. They found her on the couch, under a blanket as if she were taking a nap._

_I'm sorry if that sounds cold and impersonal, but I'm numb as it is now. Part of my job is dealing with the dead. What really gets me is the children. A final tally of the dead hasn't been made yet, but as of right now there are more than 17 million known dead in the U.S._

_We were almost caught with our pants down, but we won the war against China. In the end, however, it doesn't matter. We and Russia still got the crap kicked out of us. Thank God that the Canadians, British and Japanese stayed out of it._

"I thought that Aunt Amy was an art appraiser," Daria said.

"So did I," Helen said and sighed. "It appears that there's more to Amy than meets the eye."

_I'm still checking the databases for Rita and Erin, but by now, I don't think there's much hope left._

_Sorry, I'm being a real bummer, but these last few months have not been pleasant._

_Love, Amy_

Daria blinked and looked up at Helen. Tears ran from the older woman's eyes and she exhaled loudly.

"I...I need to be alone, Daria," she said.

"Mom, is Amy with the CIA?"

Helen rubbed her right eye and said, "I don't know. I really don't know." She turned and walked out of the living room.

Daria logged off and shut down the computer.

**oooooooooo**

Outside, Jim, Martin and Danny helped Trent load the SUV. As the younger two men tried different ways of fitting the boxes in the back, Jim took Trent aside and said, "I hope you don't mind, but I have some advice for you."

"Hey, not at all, man," the singer said. "Anything that helps is appreciated."

"First off, have you driven in this part of the country before the war?"

Trent nodded. "Mystik Spiral played once in a bar outside of Roanoke more than a year ago. We got lost and ended up in four different states before we found our way out."

Jim smiled. "Easy to do there. Well, like Pam was told by her dad, stick to the interstates. I would keep your guns handy, but not out in the open. If there are British or Canadian troops in Virginia, you may see them on I-81 and they may stop you. Just don't get excited around them."

"I'm not very excitable," Trent said.

"I've noticed that," Jim said. "I'm thinking that having the children with you will help you there. My next question may seem a bit personal, but I think it's important. Are you planning on marrying Pam?"

A small smile appeared on Trent's face. "To tell the truth, I've thought about it."

The older man nodded. "Expect her parents to ask you about it. When you do, let us all know about it. We may not be able to come, but we will send you a present." He looked at the work Danny and Martin were doing, sighed, then looked back at Trent. "I recommend that you don't leave the interstates at all until you get past Charleston. There's not much in many of the smaller towns, and what they are getting is usually just sold to the local folks. The closer you get to Kentucky, the better off things will be."

Trent looked towards where the girls watched two of the chickens as they pecked at the ground. "Pam and I think that a tank full of gas should get us to her home."

"Take one of the five gallon cans with you anyway," Jim said. "Play it safe."

"We will, man, we will."

Jim then walked towards Martin and Danny, shook his head and muttered, "If you want something done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself."

**oooooooooo**

Everyone gathered in the driveway at a little before ten. Trent shook everyone's hand, except Daria, who he hugged briefly. "Take care of Martin," he whispered in her left ear. "I think he likes you."

The auburn-haired teen felt a tear well up in her right eye and smiled. "I think so, too," she whispered back. "I hope you and Pam stay happy together."

"Thank you, Daria. We will."

Trent and Jane hugged tightly and the raven-haired girl cried hard into his shoulder as he held her. "It'll be O.K., Jane," he said. "It'll be O.K."

"I'll miss you!" she said.

"I'll miss you, too. You and Danny can come out and visit us when we get settled in."

She broke the hug and looked at him through tear-blurred eyes. "We will," she said. "We will."

Pam hugged everybody, as did Amber and Vickie. The curly-haired brunette cried as she hugged them. She looked at Martin and Daria and said, "Be patient and understanding with one another."

The two little girls hugged Jane at the same time, and Amber said, "Auntie Jane, come with us."

Jane's smile was weak and a tear ran down her left cheek. "I can't," she said. "I'm staying here with Auntie Daria and everyone else. But I'll visit you. I promise."

"That'll be great!" Vickie said. "I can show you my bedroom! I have a lot of fuzzy animal dolls we can play with!"

"I look forward to it."

Helen took Trent aside and said, "You take good care of Pam and the girls, Trent."

"I will, Helen. I will."

"She loves you, very much. You love her back with all your heart, and she'll always be there for you." Then she walked back to Daria and Martin.

Martin walked up to Trent and they shook hands again. "I think I'll miss your guitar playing," the teen said.

"I'll still be practicing. Hopefully, I can get a new band started up and perform around there." He looked at Pam, who shooed the girls to their seats in the SUV. "It's time for us to go."

"Be careful," Martin said.

"We will."

"Call us when you get home!" Diana told Pam. "You have our number...and our e-mail addresses."

Finally, the four were inside the vehicle and Trent pulled out slowly. On the highway, he honked the horn and all four waved as he drove off.

The others watched them leave until the vehicle disappeared around a curve.

**oooooooooo**

Odell Jones got back into the minivan and sat there for several seconds in silence. They were parked in a driveway of a two-story house with a privacy-fence around the back yard.

Stephanie McPherson sat in the back and watched him nervously as she waited for his orders. Finally, she asked, "Uh...are you O.K.?"

"You have a job to do," he said and shook his head.

The girl felt her dread build up and swallowed hard. "What do I have to do?"

He turned around and looked at her, the disgust he felt evident on his face. "Wash his car."

"What?"

Odell sighed and shook his head again. "All he wants you to do is wash his car...in the nude. He'll watch you from the inside of his car...and play with himself while you wash it."

The brunette wasn't sure that she heard him right. "Is that it?"

The man grimaced. "Yeah, that's it. He's already paid me and I get to watch, too. Damned freak! Why can't he have sex like a normal man? Well, Stephanie, this one'll be easy for you."

"Not easy enough!" she said under her breath and moved up to the seat behind him.

"Keep in mind that I'll be outside the car and not in there with him. I'm not stupid, girl."

"Don't sell yourself short," she then said, also under breath.

Odell didn't hear her and pulled the van closer to the garage. They got out and walked to the sidewalk gate, where a middle-aged man waited on them.

**oooooooooo**

"Lunch'll be ready pretty soon," Jim said and wiped his forehead off. Both he and Martin had just finished scanning the last of the farm animals. Jane and Danny mowed the yard, while Daria worked on her school work and the two women cooked.

"Good," Martin said and looked at the chickens as they moved around them. "I'm hungry. Never thought that a chicken would be that hard to scan."

"Chickens aren't the most cooperative animals in the world," Jim said, and sighed in relief. "Even when they want food. Anyway, that's a major load off of my mind. It's one thing to kill an animal for food, but at least I didn't have to kill one for being hot." He shook his head. "I don't like killing a sick animal. It's like compounding an error."

"Yeah, Jim, but it's a mercy, really."

"I know, Martin, I know. A man shoes his own horses, and shoots his own snakes."

Martin looked around and made sure that they were alone, then glanced back at his uncle. "Is Koenig's still open?"

Jim rubbed his chin as he thought. Then he nodded and said, "Sure is, son, but he hasn't had much business since..." He looked at Martin quickly. "You planning something secret, boy?"

The teen looked embarrassed and glanced out into the barnyard. "I haven't bought her _anything_, Jim. I love her, but I've never given her a real present."

"Son, Koenig's is a jewelry store. It's not Wal-Mart, Costco or Payday. What message are you trying to convey to her? Cause if you send her the wrong signals, you could easily hurt her feelings."

Martin looked at him quickly. "It's still early for _that_." Then he smiled. "But I have to admit, I like the sound of Daria Peters."

"Well, what do you want to buy her?"

"I'm thinking of a necklace or a bracelet."

"How are you set for money?" Jim asked. "Despite the war, Koenig hasn't really lowered his prices much."

The teen looked at him and said quickly, "I have money."

Jim looked at him briefly, then sighed. "Last year, I and your Uncle Wayne spoke with your daddy about _your_ financial situation."

Martin looked confused. "Mine? Why did you talk about _my _finances with him?"

"We knew where most of the money came from when he and Martha remodeled your house. The whole family knew about it. We pushed him to repay you for that 'loan' you made."

"I loaned them nothing!" Martin said. "Dad's name was on my savings account and he withdrew everything without asking me."

Jim nodded and said, "I know. When we talked to him, he said that he thought you were squirreling away money, hiding it from him and your mother. He couldn't find it."

The teen smiled then and said, "I have money, Uncle Jim."

"Keep in mind, son, that you may need that money in the not too distant future. Sure, a bracelet from Koenig's would be a great gift for Daria. But don't bust yourself getting it." The man cleared his throat. "Plus, there's talk of the government refiguring the currency."

"What?"

"The war's hurt our country bad, Martin. It's a good bet that they may redo the monetary system. Something to keep in mind."

The teen nodded and looked down.

**oooooooooo**

The clock in the minivan had just read three-ten when Odell pulled into a driveway.

"Where are we?" Stephanie asked quickly, her voice nervous.

"Calm down," he said. "We're at my uncle's house. He's very old, and very forgetful, but I know that he'll let us stay here tonight. Maybe even tomorrow night, too." He looked around and smiled. "Give us a chance to relax and screw in a real bed for a change. I'm tired of humping you in the back of the van, despite how fun it is."

The teen shuddered and looked at him. "What will he say about me?"

Odell turned and looked at her briefly. "I'll tell him that you're my girlfriend. You kiss me in front of him. Do it willingly and don't give me any grief, or I'll give you a lot of grief later on. Got it?"

Stephanie looked down. "Yes, sir."

"After I hug him, you hug him and tell him that you're glad to meet him."

"I have no bra on under this shirt. Will that bother him or cause any trouble?"

He shook his head. "Nope. He may be ninety, but he likes pretty girls, and you're downright beautiful, Steph."

She shuddered again.

"Don't be too surprised if he 'accidentally' touches you every so often. He's been doing that for more than twenty years now. Used to tick Nora off big time."

"Who's Nora?"

"My ex-wife," he said and braked to a stop, then put the minivan into park and shut it off. "Come on, let's go see Uncle Joe."

"Uncle Joe, huh?" she asked.

He nodded. "You remember Uncle Joe. He's the one who was afraid to cut the cake."

Stephanie looked at him, totally confused. "Huh?"

Odell sighed and shook his head. "Never mind."

The two got out and walked up to the house. When they reached the front door, he knocked hard for several seconds and they waited.

"Hold on!" a male voice yelled from inside. "I'm coming! Hold your horses!"

The door opened and an elderly man stood there. He looked at Odell briefly and nodded, then looked over Stephanie in confusion. "Good to see you again, Odell," he said and nodded towards the girl. "Who's this?"

"Uncle Joe, this is my girlfriend, Stephanie. Stephanie, this is my Uncle Joe."

The girl held up her hand to shake his and said, "Pleased to meet you."

The old man took the girl in an embrace and hugged her tightly. "Hell, girl, we don't shake hands here. We hug."

She saw her captor glare at her and she quickly wrapped her arms and hugged the man back tightly. "O.K."

When he broke the hug, the old man kissed her left cheek and looked her front over. He smiled as he looked at both her chest and face and said, "You're a pretty one, girl. Real pretty."

"Thank you," she said and blushed.

Joe laughed, then turned and hugged his nephew tightly. "Been awhile, Odell. Where've you been and what happened to Nola?"

"Nora."

"Yeah, Nora. She was always so uptight. What happened to her?"

"We split up," the younger man said. "If it's O.K. with you, Steph and I would like to stay with you a day or two."

Joe looked at Stephanie, smiled at Odell and then nodded at the girl. He patted her left hip lightly and said, "You're picking 'em young, aintcha?"

"Yes, sir," Odell said.

The old man nodded and said, "Can't say I blame you for that. You two can stay as long as you like. You remember that I ain't got any running water, don't ya?"

"We're tough," Odell said. "Come to think of it, Uncle Joe, Steph and I need to take a bath. How's the creek out back in the woods?"

Joe shook his head and said, "I ain't been back there in two or three years." He pointed at a small brook that ran on the property's south side. "Still flowing fine, though. It'll be cold on you."

Odell looked over the girl with a leer and said, "Not for long."

Stephanie felt like crawling under the house when he said that.

"Boy, you're making me jealous. Go on, but watch out for snakes and wild dogs."

"Let's get our towels and soap, girl, then we'll go back there."

The girl fought the impulse to scream - and cry - as she followed Odell back to the minivan.

**oooooooooo**

Right after supper at the Peters home, Helen's cell phone rang and she answered it, a little surprised. "Hello?"

"Helen?" the voice on the other end said. "It's me, Pam. We made it. We're home."

"It's Pam and Trent," Helen told the others in the living room. "They made it!"

Jane ran up and Helen handed her the phone. She said, "Trent? Are you O.K.?"

"Hang on, Jane, I'll give the phone to him. Trent, Jane wants to talk to you."

After a few seconds, Trent came on the line. "Hey, Janey."

"How do you like it there?" Jane asked.

"The bed's real comfortable. More than mine ever was."

"Considering how much you slept on it, I find that hard to believe."

"Heh. That's funny. I've got to go now, Jane. We've got to fix the girls some food and Pam's family wants to meet me. We just wanted to let you know we made it."

"I love you, Trent," Jane said and wiped a tear from her left eye.

"I love you, too, Janey. Say 'hey' to everyone there for us."

"I will."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Jane closed the phone and handed it back to Helen. Then she moved back to Danny, sat beside him and laid her head on his left shoulder.

The young man put his left arm around her and kissed her forehead. She gave him a weak smile.

**oooooooooo**

Daria and Martin walked outside and into the back yard. The twilight was fast fading and the two held hands as they moved past the garden and near the barn.

"How would you like to climb up into the hayloft?" he asked quietly.

"Kind of dark for that, don't you think?" she asked. "Not to mention that everyone would eventually come looking for us with flashlights." She shook her head. "As much as I've heard that making out in haylofts is fun, I prefer a nice warm bed for that."

"I meant that you could work out your legs by climbing up and down the ladder," he said, a smirk on his face.

She looked up at his face and returned his smirk. "You are so full of bull, Martin Peters. I'd get to the top of the ladder, then you'd pull my pants down like you did that one time in your garage."

"Can't blame me for that," he said.

"Yes, I can. I'd feel like an idiot if you had my ass bared right when your uncle walked in. I'd want to die...and so would you, by the time I'd be done with you."

The teen boy suddenly remembered Helen's hand around his throat and rubbed his neck briefly. "I have an idea," he said. "You run and I'll chase you."

"Run? It still hurts some to walk."

He smiled at her and kissed her briefly. "Good. I'd catch you and win."

"Oh? What would you win?"

In response, he kissed her left ear and lightly bit on her earlobe.

Daria shivered and wrapped her arms around him. "You caught me. You win."

They hugged and smiled at each other. Then they kissed again.

**oooooooooo**

Odell and Stephanie returned to the house before dark. She looked depressed, while he looked relaxed...and happy. As they reached the back porch, he said, "You know, girl, if you could make me a decent drink, then I'd really be happy...and let you sleep tonight in peace."

The brunette turned and said, "I can make an Orange Bomb."

He blinked. "I don't mean some kiddie drink, girl."

"I don't know what its real name is," she said. "I just know it's made with milk, orange juice and rum."

Odell stopped and put his left hand on the girl's right shoulder. "That sounds familiar...and good. Check my vodka box in the van. There should be a bottle of rum in it. Bring it and my canned orange juice in, then make me that drink. If I like it, I'll let you relax tonight."

She smiled at him and said, "Yes, sir."

After she took the items from the box, she moved to the back where she normally slept and retrieved the plastic bag with the crushed Ambien pills. She smiled as she opened the rum, emptied the bag into the bottle, then closed the lid again.

Stephanie lightly shook the bottle as she walked into the house and saw that Odell had already pulled a can of PET evaporated milk from the refrigerator.

"I'm watching TV with Uncle Joe, girl!" Odell yelled out. "Bring it to me when you get it done!"

**oooooooooo**

By the time Stephanie reached the living room, Joe had fallen asleep in his lounger, while Odell was reclined on a couch. She handed him the drink and he sipped it. He tasted it and said, "Good. I like it. Could use a tad more orange juice, but good." He motioned at a nearby rocking chair. Sit down and watch _Revenge of the Nerds _with me. You'll like the scene with the spy cameras and the nerds see all the naked sorority girls."

_Oh, joy, _she thought and sat down. She watched Odell as he drank and suppressed the instinct to smile. _Let's see if it works._

It took less than twenty minutes for Odell to close his eyes and pass out. He dropped the empty glass on his right side.

Stephanie stood up and took the glass into the kitchen, where she rinsed it out carefully. Then she walked back into the living room and up to Odell. "Hey!" she said, her voice slightly raised. You awake?"

Odell didn't move, except for the raising and lowering of his chest as he breathed.

The girl moved her right hand into his pants pocket and fished out the van keys and the wad of greenbacks he kept there. Then she took the SIG Sauer from its holster, as well as the two extra clips he had in his other pocket. She smiled at Odell and said, "See you later, asshole."

Before she left the room, she spread out a coverlet over the old man and smiled at him. "You sleep in peace, sir," she whispered. "_You_ were nice to me, even though you're probably just as filthy as Odell is."

As she walked back through the kitchen, she saw a medicine cabinet set up near a window and wash basin. She opened the cabinet and looked over the various medicines and items that Joe had. Her gaze settled on a nearly full tube of Bengay and she smiled as she glanced back towards the living room.

Her footsteps were light and she felt better than she had in days. She reached Odell and calmly opened up his pants. After she pulled both his pants and underwear to his knees, she opened the tube and squeezed out the entire contents on his exposed genitals. She breathed in and sighed from the pungent methyl salicylate fragrance. Then she pulled the garments back into place and rubbed the front of his pants firmly.

Her smile widened as she thought of his reactions when he woke up. "I'd love to see what happens, but I'm going to be many miles from here when you wake up, freak." She spat on his face and added, "You're really going to be hot stuff now."

The teen walked back into the kitchen, tossed the empty tube into the trash and stepped out the back door.

(To be continued...)


	8. Shopping Trip

**8. Shopping Trip**

The next morning, Daria walked into the dining room and glanced at Helen and Diana as they washed the breakfast dishes. "Why didn't anyone get me up?" she asked. "I missed breakfast and now I'm hungry."

"We decided to let you sleep today, sweetie," Helen said as she dried a plate. "After all, yesterday was a full day for both you and Diana."

"That's right," the other woman said. A wooden cane was hooked over the counter near the kitchen sink. "Despite your best acting, I saw you grimace in pain several times yesterday. I can tell you that I have, also. You got much needed rest and we put your breakfast plate in the microwave oven." She took the cane in one hand, retrieved the food with the other and led the teen into the dining room. As she set the plate on the table, she added, "Of course, there is an alarm clock next to your bed, so if you really wanted up earlier, you could have set it."

Daria grimaced. "I hate alarm clocks," she said. "They always go off too early."

"That's better than being constantly late to work," Helen said and set a tall glass of milk next to the breakfast plate.

As the girl sat down, she looked at the two women and asked, "Where's Martin? I looked in his room and out the living room window, but I didn't see him."

Diana nodded her head in the direction of the back yard. "He's done some more scanning and said something about a project he needed to do."

"That's right," Helen added. "He was kind of secretive about it. He said that he'd be back before lunch."

Daria frowned and looked at her food. _O.K., what is he doing now? Setting up a new hideout? Well, I'll find out._

Then she began to eat and Diana said, "If you want to go into town with me and your mother, then you need to be ready in an hour and a half. Jim's staying here, as is Jane and Danny, but I need to take you in to see our doctor, and Martin said something about being low on chocolate."

"Why do I need to see a doctor?" Daria asked and drank some milk.

"In case you get an infection from the shotgun pellets. It pays to play it safe, especially given Black Saturday and everything that's happened since."

"O.K.," the teen said. "I'll go check on Martin after I eat breakfast and let him know."

**oooooooooo**

Odell Jones sat in the same portion of the creek where he and Stephanie had bathed the afternoon before. His clothing was scattered on the rocks near the water, as were his shoes. He groaned and moved around occasionally, his expression reflecting his discomfort.

He had washed away as much of the medicated pain rub as he could, but it still had plenty of time to enter his pores. Everything between his thighs and his belly hurt.

_The worst part was waking up, _he thought as he remembered the combination of pain and disorientation. Uncle Joe was sound asleep on the recliner, while he had a combination of a fiery crotch and a mild hangover. _Damned rum! _He groaned again. "Damned girl," he muttered. "When I get my hands on you again, you little bitch..."

The man concentrated on his planned revenge until a shocked looked appeared on his face and he groaned again. He moved his hands to his crotch and rocked slowly in the water. "I'm going to kill you, Stephanie!" he said loudly. "It'll take days and you'll beg me to kill you before you finally die."

He adjusted his position and felt the cool water swirl around him as he did so.

**oooooooooo**

It was nearly an hour later when Odell walked carefully back up to his uncle's house. He carried an old .38-caliber Police Special that his dad had given to his uncle back in the sixties.

He opened the door and looked in the living room. The old man was still asleep. "Oh, you missed all the _fun_," he muttered sarcastically and sat carefully on the couch.

The noise of his body settling on the leather caused the old man to jump slightly and look quickly at him. "Oh, it's you, Odell. Forgot you were here. Where's Cindy?"

"You mean Stephanie."

"The cute brunette with the nice boobs. Where'd she go?"

Odell sighed and thought quickly. "She had to go check up on her mother," he lied. "I'll catch up with her later on."

"Pity. I liked looking at her. Hoped to see her all naked like, you know?" The old man laughed and rubbed his hands in the air in front of him. "I'm going to eat something and go back to sleep. Help yourself to whatever I have." He stood up and moved towards the kitchen.

_Oh, I will, Uncle Joe. I will. _He stood back up and followed his uncle.

**oooooooooo**

Daria walked slowly outside, not only because of the somewhat uneven terrain of going into the woods, but the fact that the cane she had to use was too short. That struck her as odd, since she considered herself short by normal standards anyway. _Who in the world was this thing made for? Yoda, or Tiny Tim?_

She looked up the path where Martin had gone, then moved to find him. She thought about the possibility of him keeping a secret and found herself slightly worried. _What in the world is so important that you need to keep it secret from me?_ she wondered and stopped next to a beech tree. She looked around and saw something up ahead.

In the end, Daria found Martin as he sat alone on a boulder several hundred yards away from the house. She turned around briefly and could barely see the barn and other outbuildings from where she was.

She gripped the cane tighter and moved closer to him. It looked as though he was whittling on a piece of wood.

When she got to within ten feet of him, he said, "Hey, cutie, what's up?"

Daria stopped, raised her eyebrows and stared at his back. "What if I had been Jane, or Mom, or your Aunt Diana?"

Martin looked at her and smiled. "The shampoo you use has a light orange fragrance to it," he said. "Plus, I can hear the cane when you walk."

The auburn-haired teen sat carefully beside him and they kissed. "Just for that," she said, "I'm going to have Mom and Jane use my shampoo, too. So, what secrets are you keeping from me now?"

He glanced at her quickly, then held up a stick similar to his walking stick. "There are no secrets here. I'm making you a walking stick." He put his arm around her. "This way we can have his-and-her walking sticks." He gently squeezed her right shoulder and moved his hand down to her hip. "How's your butt feeling?"

Daria laid her head against his upper right arm and looked at the stick in his hand. "It hurts," she said and held out her right hand. "Is it ready for me yet? I want to see it."

He handed her the stick and she looked it over.

For several seconds, she said nothing, then turned her head towards his and they kissed again. "Thank you." She hugged him then and added, "Diana said something about taking me to see her doctor today when we go to town."

The boy frowned. "Why? I thought that since you were treated and cleaned up, you'd be O.K."

Daria sighed and shrugged. "She wants to be sure that the shot pellets didn't infect me." She took hold of his right hand and gripped it. "Can we talk?" she asked in a smaller voice.

"Of course," he gripped her hand in return. "What about?"

She cleared her throat. "Sex."

Martin started to make a humorous comeback, but held back when he realized that she was very tense. "O.K.," he said. "What about sex?"

Daria blushed and looked at their feet. "I think we shouldn't...do it anytime soon." She glanced up at his face. "I know that we talked about what we would do when we left Carthage, but I find myself still...nervous about it."

For a couple of minutes, Martin tensed as well and said nothing. Then he kissed the top of her head, then her forehead, followed by her cheeks and her lips. He hugged her then and kept hold of her. "I love you, Daria," he said and kissed the top of her head again.

"But you're upset," she replied.

"No, I'm not."

"Liar," she whispered.

He snorted and rocked her gently. "O.K., maybe I am, just a little. But I'm not mad at you, and I still love you."

"Love you, too."

He ran his right hand over her right arm and back down to her hip and squeezed her gently. "The other night, in your bed...I wanted to take you then. It would have been so easy."

"I know. I could tell quite well." She smiled and gave his right thigh a gentle squeeze. "From what I've learned just by being with you, teenaged boys are very ready. At any time."

Martin blinked and sighed. Then he chuckled. "Right now, I could strip your clothes off of you, toss away both the cane and your walking stick, chase you down and catch you. Then..."

"...I get the picture," she said and laughed briefly.

"You'd get more than that," he said.

Daria lightly smacked his thigh and whispered, "What if Mom was behind you the next time you say something like that?"

He cleared his throat and said, "Oh, I'd probably die. Or at least want to."

She shook her head. "Uh, huh."

"Then, if she actually caught us in the act, she'd most certainly kill me." He smirked and kissed her forehead. "But what a way to go."

She laughed again. "Down, boy." She closed her eyes and added, "When I came out here, I was worried that you had started your hideouts again. Or that you were hiding things from me."

His sigh showed a bit of irritation. "We've talked about this, Daria."

The teen girl gripped his arm tightly and said, "I know, lover boy, but I also know that old habits die hard." She kissed his forearm and glanced up at his face. "I want you to always remember that you don't have to hide things from me. I won't hide anything from you, either."

The two teens joined lips briefly and smiled at each other.

"Now, we need to get back so we can go to town with Mom and you aunt. Especially if you're really low on chocolate."

Martin stood up and helped Daria to her feet. He handed her the walking stick and took the cane in his arm.

The girl moved back towards the house and used the stick for support. She stopped after a few feet and looked at her boyfriend. "I like it. It's better than the cane. Not that I'm complaining."

He shrugged. "The cane belonged to my Great-grandma Mary. She was like four-foot-nothing. I'm not really sure, since she died in the seventies, except that I know she was very short."

"I can tell." They walked on several more feet and she added, "Martin?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you disappointed in me?"

He shook his head and glanced at her. "Nope. No reason to be."

"I mean, you could say I've just keep putting you off."

"I don't think so," he said and scratched his right cheek briefly. He looked at her and smiled. "I may be single-minded when it comes to...being alone with you, but I do notice other things."

"Oh?"

"Helen and Diana pay a lot of attention to us," he said. "I personally don't want either one of them to catch us or see me bare ass naked and in bed with you. I don't even want Jane or Danny or Uncle Jim to walk in on us, either."

Daria blushed. "I feel the same way."

He gave her a small smile and winked at her. "The right time will present itself," he said. "Don't worry about it. We'll know when it's the right time." They moved a few more feet and he added, "Like I said before, the anticipation gives me something to look forward to."

She blinked and looked down. "I hope that the anticipation isn't better than the actual experience itself."

"I read a book once about sex," Martin said.

"I thought you were a perv," she joked.

He chuckled. "Well, my motivation was for some salacious stories, I have to admit, and the book had them, too. But something the author wrote was interesting and it just came back to me."

"Oh?"

"He wrote that intimacy is more than just a humping session on the mattress."

"Now, that's a romantic way to put it," she said sarcastically.

"Intimacy is being able to give each other a glance and feel the love that's there. The ability to love being with the other, even if he or she is sick, or irritable, or sad. Intimacy is wanting to get back home because you know you're mate is waiting for you." He stopped and pulled her into an embrace. "Of course, I still want the 'hot' part of intimacy with you."

She grinned and said, "Of course."

The two embraced again and walked on back towards the house.

**oooooooooo**

When the car reached the downtown section of Overland, West Virginia, Martin spoke up. "I'd like you to drop me off here while you three go on to the doctor's office," he said.

A disappointed look appeared on Daria's face and she asked, "You don't want to go with me?"

"Doc Winters isn't going to let me in the examining room with you, honey, and there's something I wanted to check on here downtown."

Diana knew about his plans and said, "It'll be O.K., Daria. It'll keep him occupied while we're busy." She pulled the car over near a clothing store. "Here you are."

Martin quickly kissed Daria and said, "See you in a bit."

The girl looked him in the face and asked, "What are you looking for?"

He shook his head, but smiled. "I'll tell you later." He got out of the car and Diana pulled away.

**oooooooooo**

The door to Koenig's Jewelry had a bell attached to it and it rang as Martin opened it and stepped inside.

A man in his mid-fifties sat on a stool behind a glass display counter; he stood when Martin entered and as the door shut behind the teen, he pulled down slightly on his shirt. He was several inches shorter than the teen and had straight black and gray hair, plus silver-colored wire rim glasses with oval lenses.

His expression seemed tired as he said, as if by rote, "I cannot buy any gold, silver, or other precious metals at this time, or any time in the forseeable future."

Martin blinked in surprise. "Uh," he said, "I'm here to buy, not sell, Mr. Koenig."

The man looked at him and said, "Don't expect me to give you a massive discount just because of the war. I am not an easy mark."

"I have cash to pay for my purchase," the teen said.

Koenig then smiled and his tone became friendlier. "Sorry about that," he said. "People think that they can take advantage of me now because of Black Saturday."

"That would be theft," Martin said. "An open violation of one or more of the Ten Commandments."

The older man nodded and gave him a slightly sardonic smile. "An apt way of putting it," he said. "I've seen you before, young man. Is James Peters your father?"

The teen shook his head. "No, sir, but he is my grand-uncle."

"I see the resemblance. How can I help you, Mr. Peters."

Martin swallowed and gave the jeweler a nervous smile. "I want to buy my girlfriend a necklace, something special."

"Is there any kind of stone or metal she likes in particular?" Koenig asked.

The teen stroked his chin and thought for a few seconds, then said, "Daria is very modest. She doesn't like anything...um, showy. You know what I mean?"

The older man nodded. "She doesn't want to put on an ostentatious display." He smiled. "In my experience, even the most modest of women will proudly display a special item that her man buys her."

"As long as it doesn't call too much attention to her, Mr. Koenig," Martin said. "She'd never forgive me if I did that to her."

The jeweler laughed and pulled out two boxes on the display case. "In this box, I have silver necklaces. The second contains the gold ones. Or, if you prefer, I also carry platinum necklaces."

"I was thinking of gold," the teen said.

"Any karat in particular that you're wanting?"

"How about 24-karat?"

Koenig shook his head. "I don't carry those. Gold is very soft and 24-karat would wear away faster. I recommend a 10-, 12-, or 14-karat necklace myself. Not only would it cost less, the copper mixed in with it gives it strength and sturdiness."

"Uh, O.K.," Martin said. "I'll take a 14-karat necklace."

The older man opened the box with the gold necklaces and asked, "What kind of stone would you prefer?"

"I always thought that Daria would look good with a ruby necklace," he said.

Koenig pulled out five necklaces and said, "You're in luck. I have five ready that you can choose from."

Martin looked over the necklaces and exhaled loudly. Finally, he said, "The first and fourth ones, no. The chains are too short. The ruby on the fifth one is way too big. I like...the second one, please."

Koenig pulled the necklace out and laid it on the counter in front of the teen; while the boy looked it over, he put the other four back in the box.

Then, Martin opened the coat and pulled a device out in the open.

The older man was briefly startled, then asked, "What is that? What are you doing?"

"This is a Geiger counter," the teen said. "I mean no offense to you, Mr. Koenig, but I want to be sure that this isn't radioactive."

The jeweler watched the teen as he scanned the necklace. "I have been trying since Black Saturday to have the county scan my inventory. I keep getting put off."

Martin smiled and said, "The necklace is clean. I see that you have the price here. I'm prepared to pay you in full right now."

Koenig thought for several seconds, then asked, "Would you be willing to sell that Geiger counter, young man?"

The teen shook his head in shock. "Uh, it's not mine to sell, sir."

Then the jeweler thought some more and said, "Perhaps the two of us can come to an arrangement here."

Martin's guard went up and he said, "O.K. What do you mean?"

"You scan my inventory for me, and I will not only give you that necklace, but also a set of earrings for your lady friend."

_Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, boy_, Martin heard his dad's voice say in his mind and he smiled. "Deal!"

The two shook hands.

**oooooooooo**

Nearly ninety minutes later, Daria and the women found Martin as he sat on a bench on the courthouse lawn.

When the car slowed down, he stood up and strolled out to the rear passenger door and got inside. He sat beside Daria and they kissed. "How was it?" he asked.

The auburn-haired girl blushed and said, "It was humiliating."

Martin raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

"It wasn't that bad, Daria," Helen said as Diana pulled away from the courthouse.

"Yeah, right," the girl said and buried her face in her hands for a few seconds. "You show your naked butt to some strange guy for more than a half-hour and we'll see how bad it is for you."

"You've been to a gynecologist before, haven't you?" Diana asked.

Daria looked at Martin, who closed his eyes and turned his head away. She blushed and said, "Yeah, but that was a woman doctor."

Diana looked through the rear-view mirror at the girl and said, "Joe Winters has seen most everybody's butt around here at one time or another. You're just a face in the crowd to him."

Suddenly Martin laughed and covered his eyes. Everyone's attention turned to him and Daria blushed even more.

"What's so funny?" she asked him.

"Just the thought of everyone in town standing side by side," he said and looked at the three women. "Or should I say, butt by butt." He laughed some more and Daria suppressed a groan.

Helen looked at him and shook her head. "He's beginning to sound like your 'friends' from Highland, Daria."

"God forbid," Daria muttered and covered her eyes as well.

"Let's get to the grocery store before we hear something worse," Diana said.

**oooooooooo**

Odell frowned as he left the grocery store with his purchases. "Don't even know why I got a shopping cart," he complained to himself. He still walked funny and the methyl salicylate fragrance of the Bengay still lingered on him. "If I ever get my hands on Stephanie, I'll beat her to death."

**oooooooooo**

Daria got out of the car and stretched. She took the walking stick in her left hand and said, "I'll go and get a cart. You park it and join us inside, O.K.?"

"Yes, dear," Martin said as Helen and Diana got out of the car and walked on towards the store.

He waited until Daria was far enough away, then drove slowly until he found a parking space.

The teen girl watched him and smiled, then moved towards a nearby cart corral.

**oooooooooo**

Odell adjusted the ball cap on his head as he released the shopping cart. He turned and walked by the short girl with the walking stick.

Daria stopped suddenly and felt a chill sweep through her body. She slowly turned around.

Odell stopped and his mouth dropped open. "That can't be her," he said to himself and turned around.

Daria Morgendorffer and Odell Jones faced one another at the cart corral, shock evident on both of their faces.

For several seconds, neither said or did anything. Then Daria dropped her right hand to her waist and pulled her jacket back.

At the same time, Odell reached behind his back.

(To be continued...)


	9. Standoff

**9. Standoff**

Daria Morgendorffer and Odell Jones each gripped their pistols at the same time; before either one could pull their weapons free, a voice called out, "Odell Jones! Man, it's been a coon's age since I last saw you!"

Odell blinked and Daria stared at him. The two turned and saw a man of about sixty or sixty-five walk towards them.

Odell released his pistol and raised his hand in greeting, then turned towards him. He then glanced sideways at the teen. Out of the corner of his mouth, he said, "Next time, little bitch, I'll take care of you personally."

"Not if I get you first, _Odell_," Daria said just loud enough for him to hear. "I'll shoot your other ball off."

Odell walked off then and tried to ignore the girl. He turned his back on her as he walked. But he could feel her stare as he moved towards the old man, and sweat appeared on his forehead.

The old man looked around Odell at Daria and asked, "Who's that?"

The former church deacon put a smooth smile on his face and said, "Oh, she was in my Sunday School class before Black Saturday. She was one of those flirts who likes to put the moves on youth pastors. You know how that is."

The old man chuckled and looked her over. "Don't I ever," he said. "She is a pretty one, though, isn't she?"

_I need to leave - now_, he thought and smiled. "She sure is. That's what makes that job so demanding. I've got to go now, Mark. My Uncle Joe is waiting for me to get back home."

The two men then shook hands. The old man, Mark, nodded and said, "I haven't seen old Joe since he got frisky with that nurse in the hospital. He had her topless before she could even stop him." He laughed. "Say hi to him for me, will ya?"

"I sure will. See you." Odell turned and walked towards his uncle's car. It took all of his effort to keep from running.

**ooooooooo**

Daria watched the two men talk and felt her face heat up. She kept a hold on her pistol and nearly jumped when Martin showed up beside her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She nodded towards Odell. "Look! It's Odell!"

Martin turned just as their adversary moved away from the older man. "I'll get him," he said and took off.

"Wait!" The boy stopped, turned and looked at her. "He's armed! I don't want you getting shot by him again."

"He'll get away!"

She blinked and looked down. "We'll get another chance," she said. "Even though it galls me to say it, we have to let him go."

He walked back up to her just as a dark blue Cadillac sped out of the parking lot and away from the grocery store.

The auburn-haired girl shook as he reached her; she quickly embraced him and buried her face into his chest.

"Daria?" He wrapped his arms around her and moved his right hand to the back of her head.

She moved her face slightly and whispered, "I came within a hair of getting into a gunfight in a grocery store parking lot. What would've happened if I had shot him?"

For several seconds, he said nothing. Then he bent down and kissed her left cheek. When she looked at him, he said, "I think we need to have a plan in place, just in case we do run into him again." He sighed. "To be honest, I never expected to see him again."

A woman in her thirties, trailed by a pre-school aged little girl, walked around the two and looked at them curiously.

They broke their hug and Daria looked up at him. "There you go, causing us to be stared at."

"That's because I held up the back of your skirt and showed them your panties," he said.

Daria blushed and tensed, then remembered that she was wearing blue jeans. "You are going to get it later, boy," she whispered. "When you least expect it. After all, I know where you sleep."

He smiled and said, "I look forward to it."

They moved towards the store. "Seriously, whatever we plan on concerning Odell, I think we need to have a flamethrower ready."

"Just a flamethrower?" Martin asked. "I was going to suggest swords."

"A nutcracker," she countered and he winced at the thought. She smiled. "I win again."

"Ow."

"What is it about just threatening someone's 'nutty friends' that makes all you guys wince like that?" she asked.

"You've never been kicked, or punched, in the nuts, either," he said.

They entered the store and she sighed from the air conditioning. _I'm glad to see that the war didn't stop the use of that_. "I don't have any nuts," she said, "outside of yours, that is."

Martin smiled at her and squeezed her left shoulder with his left hand. "So you own them, huh?"

Daria smiled up at his face. "I own _all _of you, boy."

He returned her smile and replied, "You also belong to me, girl."

They walked on around the cash registers and into the store itself.

**oooooooooo**

It took several blocks for Odell Jones to relax and calm down. He kept checking his rearview mirror, however. "Dumb, dumb, dumb!"

He wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "I had no idea that I'd run into that little slut here!"

Odell stopped at a traffic signal and took several deep and slow breaths. "It's a real pity I wasn't ready for her. I could've pimped her ass till the next doomsday."

After he left the intersection, he pulled over and parked, then shut off the car. He grabbed a pen and some scrap paper, then started on a list. "O.K., let's see here. Rope, electrical tape, pepper spray _and_ mace, a craft knife and needlenose pliers." A wicked smile appeared on his face. "Next time, girlie, you're gonna be mine. I'll be ready for you, and you'll beg me to kill you before I finish with you."

**oooooooooo**

When Stephanie McPherson drove the mini-van into her family's driveway, she sighed with relief and drove up to where several cars and trucks were parked.

Then she saw her father and two of her brothers step outside the house, each armed with shotguns.

She parked, shut off the van and stepped outside. As they stared at her in shock, she was thankful that she had put on Odell's jacket, for he had destroyed her bra right after he had kidnapped her. She saw their startled looks and gave them a weak smile.

The older man nearly dropped his shotgun and moved forward. "Belle?" he asked, his voice uncertain. "Is that you, honey?"

"It's me, Daddy," she said and ran up to him. She quickly gripped him in a tight hug and started crying.

One of the younger men ran to the front door and yelled through the screen, "Ma! Stephanie's home!"

"What?" a female voice from inside yelled.

"Belle! It's Belle, Ma! She's home!"

Within fifteen seconds, there were more than twelve people outside, ranging in age from four to seventy. All of them surrounded the young brunette, and most of them were crying.

Finally, a woman who looked like an older version of Stephanie clapped her hands together and said, "O.K., let's give the girl some breathing room here!" As people moved back, the woman took Stephanie by her hands and pulled her away from the others. "Where were you, honey? Bobby told us about the man who kidnapped you, but..."

"Where's Bobby?" Stephanie asked quickly and wiped her eyes. "I want to see my Bobby!"

The woman looked down and shook her head.

The teen felt as if her world was falling apart again. "No," she whispered and her chin quivered.

"He survived long enough to tell us and the sheriff's department what had happened." She pulled her daughter against her and the girl cried into her shoulder. "We need to call the sheriff's office so that you can tell them what you can about the man who kidnapped you."

"Mom," she said as she cried. "That man, he...he..." Then she broke down again and buried her face against her mother.

The woman patted her back gently and led her into the house.

**oooooooooo**

The supermarket selection had definitely seen better days. The bread section was empty, as was the fresh produce. The store's meat department was now labeled "FEDERAL RATION DEPARTMENT OFFICE."

Diana Peters led Helen to a desk where a middle-aged woman sat. An armed Army soldier stood on watch duty next to her.

"Good afternoon, Diana," the woman said. "What can I do for you today?"

"Hello, Ruth. We have some people staying with us who need ration cards."

Ruth looked over at Helen, then asked, "Are any of them your family?"

"One of them is, and one is J.D. Smith's grandson. The rest of them are friends from the Red Zone in Maryland." She motioned towards Helen. "This is Helen Morgendorffer. She, her daughter Daria and Jane Lane are with us now. Also, my nephew Martin and Danny Smith are staying with us."

Ruth smiled at Diana and said, "J.D. was a nutjob! Is Danny anything like him?"

Diana laughed. "J.D. Smith was in a class all by himself."

Ruth nodded and started pulling papers out of a side drawer on her desk. "Well, I know Danny's brother Jimmy. If I had been twenty years younger, I'd given Melissa a run for her money. Oh, well, have a seat and we'll get started." She looked at Helen after the lawyer sat down. "The flour ration is being handed out today, while the meat ration will be in three days."

"What about produce?" Helen asked.

"As it comes in. I believe that today bananas are being handed out with the flour."

"I've noticed that there's still plenty of canned food on the shelves," Diana said.

"Yes," Ruth said. "Some suppliers were knocked out, but the rest have been working overtime to keep up the supplies. Plus, we're getting aid from Canada, Great Britain and Mexico." She looked back at Helen. "The ration list includes meats, flour and certain produce. Coffee will be rationed once the government figures out how they want to do it."

"What about chocolate?" Diana asked.

"So far, no, but it could be later, along with sugar."

As Helen started filling out the paperwork, she asked, "Is medical care being rationed out yet?"

Ruth looked at her silently and asked, "How did you know about that?"

"I didn't," the lawyer said, "but ever since Black Saturday, I've been running numbers through my mind. If we lost thirty million people from the bombs and the aftermath, then we've also lost a lot of medical professionals, as well as some of our pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities."

The clerk sighed and leaned forward. "The announcement's coming out next week, but quite a few people already know about it. There will be new guidelines for treating people, based on injury level and radiation exposure. I think it's called the triage, but I can't be certain. Anyway, what it means is that if it's going to take a lot of care to bring you back from the point of death, well, then they won't do anything, except possibly euthanasia."

Helen and Diana looked at each other uncertainly.

The police car pulled up to the cabin quietly, parked and shut off. The driver then stepped out and looked around slowly. He was tall, bulky and had close-cropped hair that showed just under his hat. He looked to be in his mid-thirties. A nametag pinned on his uniform shirt read, "TRIMBLE".

The passenger then stepped out, a female deputy about a foot shorter than the man. She had short-cut blonde hair and where he was bulky, she was svelte. The nametag pinned on her uniform shirt read, "DANIELS". She looked around also and said, "Don't look like anybody's here, John."

"Something ain't right, Minnie," he said and pulled his pistol out of its holster. The woman automatically followed suit, held her weapon ready in both hands and turned to cover her partner's back. As he approached the door, she backed up carefully.

When they both reached the porch, they flanked the door, their weapons raised. They looked at each other, nodded and John knocked on the door.

Before he could even announce their presence or identity, the door opened with a loud creak.

Both officers entered the cabin and looked around. The cabin hadn't been cleaned; empty pizza boxes and beverage cans and bottles littered the main room itself. In fact, the whole place smelled odd and Minnie's expression showed a sudden disgust. "What is that smell?"

"You've smelled this before," he said and looked around. "This is what scumbag hotels smell like." Then he sighed. "There's been a gunfight here." He holstered his pistol and Minnie followed suit. "Look at the bullet holes on the far wall. Automatic rifle did that."

"What about Wally and his friends?" she asked. "Did they get into a fight with each other?"

He shook his head. "Doubt it." He saw something on the dining table and walked over to it.

Minnie looked at the table and said, "That's one of our Tasers."

John snorted. "I thought that the little shit took it. Looks like I was right."

She looked up at her partner. "So what do you think happened?"

He picked up the weapon and said, "Look around for the box this came with. At least I can get Sheriff Campbell off my back now." As she looked around, he added, "What I think happened is that Wally and his punk friends pushed the wrong people. I know that a couple of guys from Rock Oak were looking for them, but I thought that Black Saturday would've calmed them down." He lifted his hat and scratched his forehead. "Looks like I assumed wrong."

"So what do we do?"

He sighed. "Tell the sheriff and see how he wants to handle it. You know how that will go, of course."

"He'll say that your kid brother and his buddies deserved whatever happened and that we shouldn't waste our time on it."

John glanced at her and said, "He needs to tell my mother that. She doted on the little shit."

Minnie picked up a box off the floor and said, "Here we go."

The man sighed again and said, "Let's get back to the office and report what we've found."

The two officers left the cabin.

(To be continued...)


End file.
